Chaotic: The New Generation
by Crystalmoon39
Summary: Our four heroes have stopped coming to Chaotic and Perim years ago. Chaotic had to be shut down for mysterious reasons. Until now... Angel, Manny, Kat and Kit are up for their own adventures into Perim. It's all fun and games until the adventure starts getting a little too deep. Why was Chaotic offline for so long? Who was responsible? New and old friends will be there! On HIATUS
1. First Steps to Greatness Part 1

**Discalimer: I own only my OCs!**

 **This takes places years after the end of the series. For some reason Chaotic was shut down and forgotten. But the game persisted. Perim persisted. And now it's time for a new generation of Chaotic players to make their mark!**

* * *

Dad used to tell me all these stories when I was a kid. Mom would tell him to stick to Mother Goose stories, but I loved the adventures he used to tell me about. They were _my_ special stories. Ones that Dad made just for me. At the time I believed him, I wanted a place like Perim to be real and then I could go have adventures like Dad told me about. About the time I was twelve, I stopped believing them, but I kept the cards Dad gave me. Mom even gave me some of hers. At night I sometimes flip through them, remembering their names and stories Dad told, but then I'd put them away.

The cards were from a game back in my parents' days, called Chaotic. Four tribes of strange and amazing creatures battling to survive in the world of Perim, that's the game. Dad would often tell me the stories about the Overworlders, and based on the cards Mom gave me, she was a Danian fan. The Other two tribes, Underworlders and Mipedians, were also in Dad's deck, but not as much as the Overworld Tribe. He would just make those pictures just about come alive with his stories, they were so detailed I was convinced they were real!

But reality eventually brings you back and the stories go back to being stories.

The reality is now that I'm a girl in second year of high school. I have an artsy best friend named Manny Rosen who's freaking out about his Algebra test, and Club meeting coming up.

"Ange, seriously! I need to cram like now!" Manny is practically begging as we both go to our lockers.

I enter my code and smile. "I already gave you all the notes I have, Manny. You choose to watch Always On The Beat last night, so it's your own fault."

"There should be allowance in homework for family time!" he continued to complain. "I should have asked my Dad for a note!"

Thing is: Manny's dad probably _would_ have written one. "Mr. Rodson wouldn't accept it anyway." I tell him typing in my locker-code. "He doesn't like technology much, so he keeps his course old-fashioned. You have a whole hour of lunch before the test, at least study then so you have a chance of passing."

"Nuh-uh! No way!" Manny crossed his arms in defiance. "Like Dad says: Ya can't cram your mouth and your brain at the same time!"

I close my locker and look at my over-weight friend oddly. "Uh… yes, you can."

"Well, maybe _yooouuu_ can Angel." I laugh. Manny has a way of getting me to. His dad and my mom were friends from way back in high school, and they still are. So I've known Manny basically all of my life. He's like a brother to me, so no matter how immature or illogical he acts, we've always got each other's backs. Which is good cause we both ended up outcasts in our own ways.

"Give it your best shot, Manny!" I cheer him on. "I've got my own plans at the Chaotic Club for lunch."

"Oh, gosh! That's today?" Manny says, surprised.

"We need to get you a calendar, buddy."

The Chaotic Club is based on the card game that goes decades back. A lot of them are kids like me who have cards their parents saved and continue to buy them to make their own decks. The club has fallen into the category of geeks/nerds, but I don't care and neither does anyone who shows up. Chaotic still sells cards, newer ones with different images than in Dad and Mom's day. I would have used theirs, but their so old now that they're valuable! I don't want to sell them, so I keep them at home where they are safe.

The club meets in the computer room. There are desks to play and trade cards, and computer where we can access our card codes and play on there. My match is going to be online, I just brought my deck for… emotional support. I flip up the card on the top. It's Maxxor.

My deck does have the similar Creatures that Dad's has. There are some of the others mixed in, but my deck is mostly Overworld. This is my fantasy, my childhood! "Time to get Chaotic." I say quietly, then I enter the clubroom.

My opponent, FlyingFelix9, has his Rothar down to just 10 energy points. My Lystone, has 20, so I'm gonna need the right mugic to get out of this with a victory. I click to turn over my next card….

Perfect!

"A Caster's Warsong!" I play it and win the match.

The crowd that had gathered behind me gave me congratulations. I sent a thank you to FlyingFelix9 for a good match. He didn't respond and just logged off, so I did the same.

"PerimPride: still number one!" Diana, the scorekeeper of the club, gives me another tally on her list. This time was pretty much luck, but I do have a solid winning streak around here. It gets me a lot of attention and a lot more challenges. I love that part of it too! This is honestly the most fun thing I can do while sitting still. I'm in one of the geek clubs, but I'm the ace in my P.E. class!

As the praise continues on my winning streak, in my backpack I hear a ringtone. In order to do the online battles you need a special kind of scanner to link up to the computer. Mine purple, and….

"Whatya got there, Angel?" Victor, another player asks me.

"Hang on Vic, let me read it." Since the whole group is looking at me in interest, I read it out loud. "'Congratulations, PerimPride on your 50th straight victory for Chaotic's online system.' Well, that's nice of them!"

"Keep reading!" Diane eagerly begs from over my shoulder.

So I do. "'We would like to invite you to the reopening of a new Chaotic for select player worldwide!' Whoa! 'If you wish to accept: please enter the code in this email into your scanner and brace yourself for a new, life changing adventure. Offer valid through the next 24 hours. Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you there, PerimPride.'"

The entire Chaotic club was gasping and awing at my message. Some were already chanting for me to enter it. The password looked like a random jumble of letters and numbers. Somehow it gave me an odd feeling. "I- I don't know guys." I said to the eager group. "This message doesn't have any kind of return address. What if it's a hacker or something that could steal from my online account?" One or two of the other members nodded their heads. We've had experience with compromised tech before.

And what a time for Manny to run in! "Ange!" he called running from the door. "Don't tell me I missed your match! Man! And just when I got the good news that the test was canceled."

"Sorry, Manny." I told him with a chuckle. "But look at this!" He came over and read the message on my scanner.

"No way!" Manny exclaimed. "You too?"

Many pulled out his own orange scanner. "I got one this morning, but I didn't enter the code cause I almost missed the bus."

 _So this is either a scam, or a massive legit offer._ "So…" I looked between ourselves and around the room. "What do we do if this backfires on us?"

Manny shrugged. "Meh… If you're doing it, I'll do it. This _could_ fry our scanners, but these are replaceable. And we can both stick to our cards in the meantime if we have to."

My best friend, though he is, isn't known for making the safest decisions. _But then again, I've always been the daring one._ I smile confidently up at Manny and say. "Alright! At the same time then!"

Manny and I both enter the cods we each got. The whole room stays quiet either going back to their own games or watching us to see what will happen. Our fingers hover over the enter button. "Ready?" Manny asks.

I look around at the room and then down at my scanner. "Ready." I affirm.

We both press enter. Our screens warp… and then go dark. "What?" Shocked, Manny and I try to turn them back on our activate the keys. "It was a scam!" I cry out angrily. "Oh, that was so stupid of us! Manny, these cost too much for me to ask my mom for a new one!"

Manny was disappointed to. "Okay, chill. Let's take these home and show our parents. Chances are we'll each get a 'you-should-have-known-better' speech number 1-4-9, but it might give us a chance to earn some cash-o-la."

I sighed, feeling defeated. I love playing the card game, but I've become pretty popular and known online. It feels like a part of my world has been cut off from me.

What I didn't know it then, but a whole other world was about to be reopened for my generation.

* * *

 **A/N: This may have been done before, but I felt like giving it a shot!**

 **Send me a review with your thoughts! Critics and suggestions are welcomed in the reviews.**


	2. First Steps to Greatness Part 2

**I have nothing really to say...**

 **Part 2!**

* * *

While one part of me was in the computer lab cursing my own stupidity, another part of me was falling through a vortex of light cursing my stupidity. "Aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!" I squeezed my eyes shut, but that's when the falling stopped and my feet felt solid ground beneath my shoes. I also realized that the screaming wasn't mine, it was Manny's!

"Aaaaaaahhhh!" And another kid. And another.

"Please, step off the transport." A robotic voice said. In front of me was a floating machine the size of a toaster with a detachable screen 'looking' at me. I was scared, I felt like I had just been kidnapped! I was so mad, but I had to calm Manny down. I took him by his arm, noticing me Manny fell into breathing heavily. I guided him off the white platform we were standing on and down a few steps.

The place we found ourselves in was a pure white, high tech, and opened sky court. But the sky… it wasn't the right shade of blue, and even though it was light and clear, there was no sun that I could see. More and more people started showing up on other platforms like the one Manny and I had just been on. All different ranges of age, backgrounds, and everything! "Manny?" I whispered quietly. "Where are we?"

"I-I-I-I d-d-d-don't know!" Manny stuttered. "Th-This isn't _anywhere_ in the city! Angel, do think we've been abducted by aliens?" He seemed almost excited about that.

I hit him on the shoulder. "I think this is a bit more serious than that!"

One of the robots came up to us. Manny quickly grabbed onto me. I know some self-defense, so if these guys think I'll go down easy- "Welcome to The Port Court! May I take your order, Miss?"

I could see that Manny was confused as I was. We looked back at the hovering robot. It said, "We have Barath Beyond Borritos, Onion Rings of Naria, Perim Pizza, Bloogon Burgers, Simark Shakes, Frafdo Fries and Chaor Krunchies for the breakfast crowd."

If I could draw a picture of our faces, they'd probably look like this: 0-o?

Manny covered his mouth and whispered to me. "What's that thing talking about?!"

I answered. "I don't know, but they can't make me eat the onion rings."

"We'll take an order!" I looked behind me. A girl about our age with red hair with blonde highlights came running up waving her arm. She was wearing a bright yellow T-shirt, with a tan vest over it and some capri pants with red sandals. Around her neck was a pair of deep red headphones. "I'd like the onion rings with some ketchup, and a soda! Oh, and one of those burgers for my brother."

"Your brother?" I asked her out of curiosity.

I soon got my answer. "Kat!" Another boy soon came running out of the crowd. "You can't leave me behind like that!" He had similar, spiky hair to his sister, but he was wearing a green shirt without any vest and pair of pink-shaded glasses. Pants too, jeans.

The robot left to get their food. I tired talking to the two of them. "You guys know what's going on here? We get kidnapped and then get a lunch order?" The girl looked right at me when I talked to her. I noticed that she and her brother both had similar brown eyes. _They must be twins._

Immediately, the girl came up and shook my hand. "Sorry, 'bout that! I just got so excited. My name's Kat! Katherine Kalinkas, but call me Kat! This!" She grabbed her brother, forcing him to come closer. "This is Kit! Kit Kalinkas. Our online names are Taki-Names67 and All-H'earring53!"

That didn't answer my questions, but I smiled and waved hello just the same. Kat slung her arm over her brother who blushed as he waved back. "C'mon, let's get a table!" Kat got her other arm around my back and dragged Manny along with me and Kit.

We found a table for the four of us and sat down. Some others were following our lead and looking around. Everywhere there where tables to sit and giant screens everywhere in the building. Kat was looking around excitedly, as was Manny as he started to relax and let me go. I was feeling interested too, but poor Kit was practically in a ball looking around nervously.

Feeling sorry, I tried talking to him. "Hey," I said, calmly getting his attention. He looked up at me for a second, then quickly looked back down. I continued talking. "It's going to fine. You have your sister here, don't you? Nothing bad has happened, there's even some food coming right now." He slowly got out of his ball, but Kit still didn't look up.

"It's actually kind of nice here." I said. By now I was talking to both calm myself and the group. "You can see the sky or… whatever I'm looking at. This place looks pretty clean, and it doesn't look like anyone's been hurt on coming over here." I tried to steer my conversation in another direction. "Your sister said your name is Kit, right?" He nodded. _Ah-ha! We have contact!_ "What's Kit short for?"

"Kristopher…." He muttered. "I'm the younger twin."

"And the quiet one." Kat added. "What about you two?"

"I'm The-Man90. That's Nine-Oh! Manny." My friend stated. Kat snorted and rolled her eyes, but she humored him. "We just entered a code cause we won some contest and then we showed up here."

"Us too!" Kate squealed. "Isn't this great?!"

"Not the word I would use." I told her.

She looked at me questioningly. "What? Are you kidding? Do you guys have any idea where we are?!"

"No! That's why I don't like this." I said.

Kat huffed, but it was Kit who answered. "Our Dad used to tell us about a place like this that closed while he was in college. He met a lot of friends here, and spent practically all his time playing Chaotic."

"So don't get any ideas that this is a hostage situation." Kat added on. "We can go home when we want, but you'd be missing all the fun if you leave now~!"

My first impression of Kat is that she's a little crazy, or at least as crazy as her brother is shy. They both seem to have arrived only a little after Manny and I did. _Wait… She said something about the Chaotic game. The same game Manny and I entered the code for just before…._

Addressing pretty much everyone in the group, (even Manny though he won't know) I say, "So we're here because of those codes?"

"Bingo!" Kat points at me. "Daddy told me about this. It's like our brain-waves have been have been sent over and put into weird digital bodies that are just like the originals. Basically _we're_ the codes or something. But we can eat, sleep, and get hurt over here and still feel it. But in the matter of fatal injury, we just become code and-"

While Kat was speaking and alarm suddenly went off. We all looked up, noticing that the screens had some kind of silver target with a red center. The outer part of the target began rotating around the red center for a few seconds. Then the image was replaced with the strangest, whitest, full-head mask I have ever seen. It kind of reminded me of a car.

"Welcome, Chaotic Players all!" The voice was male. Deep, and robotic, but somehow nice at the same time. A lot of other people standing around us in the court were angrily shouting as they looked up at his every image. Then he spoke again above the noise. "It is understandable that many of you are angry and confused by this occurrence. But let me assure you, no harm is meant to come to you here. You each entered your own code, thus you accepted our invitations." _So he's telling us that if we're here, then we got what we asked for._ My thoughts were snarky, I was still mad. He continued with his speech. "And we shall deliver on our promise. You are the first wave of a new generation in Chaotic. While many have moved on or forgotten the game, all of you have proven to be worthy players of the game. Currently you are all waiting in what is called the Port Court, any time you wish leave simply stand on the transport and press the activation button on your scanner. One of the robots here in the Court can assist you. Your Earth-selves will know you wish to return when a light flashes on your scanner. Your online cards will be locked until you return. But your full decks are available on your scanners here. Your individual memories will be preserved and sent along with you.

"As promised, a great adventure awaits all of you here in Chaotic. Here in the seven Battle Dromes, you can play the very characters you admire and have won to be accepted here! If any player manages to beat seven challenges in a row, he or she will receive a challenge from a Codemaster of that Drome. Upon defeating a Codemaster, a rare and valuable scan will be rewarded. What's more… the actual world of Perim is at your fingertips!

"Those same transports which take you home, also can take you to the world of Perim. Your scanners have the updated ability to scan 5 Creature, Mugic and Location scans at a time. Lock them once you have the ones you want or the older scan will be erased. Also, a fair warning: You are not protected beyond your own skills while in Perim. You can be injured by the Creatures or the Locations. Any personal injury here will code you and instantly send you back to your Earth-selves, and you will be locked out of this Chaotic forever.

"Good luck to all of you. Time to get Chaotic!" And the screens turns to that rotating symbol.

The whole room is dead silent.

Then an uproar of cheers and mixed screams filled the room.

Manny was among those cheering as he stood up on his chair. Our new friends Kat and Kit were looking on with slightly amused, but already aware faces. "Well," Kat said, leaning over the table and resting her face on her fist. "That was preachy."

"But informative." Kit said. He turned and met eyes with me. "All that he said is true. You can go to Perim for real using your own location scans. The scanner thing is new though."

"Which one?" Manny asked. "It felt like we just got a school lecture."

"The multiple scans thing." Kat clarified. "The way Dad told us, it used to be just one of each and you had to save them back here. Hey, our food!"

Sure enough, an order of onion rings and a burger were put in front of the twins. "We got lunch detention when we activated our codes, so excuse me while I fill up!" Kat began rapidly shoving the onion rings into her mouth.

" _You_ have detention for giving that guy a bloody nose." Kat pointed out, picking up his burger. "I'm still studying for the Calculous test in the library."

"That test isn't for another week." Kat said between bites. "Kit's a math wiz. And an English expert, History-nut, and Sci-freak. The only place he falls short is P.E.."

Kit sent an annoyed look at his sister. "Well, if we're telling our new friends about our flaws already: let's talk about your detention record, prank-streak and failing grades!"

Now I don't know much about siblings, but the tension in the air wasn't making me comfortable. I looked over at Kat, taking a guess that she would be mad at him, like he was. She was just eating away one ring at a time. "Yeah." She confessed with a relaxed grin. "But you know most of those are because I don't let _anybody_ mess with my little brother, right?"

 _Aww! She does those things to protect her brother? That's sweet._ I looked across from me at Manny; I could tell he was thinking about the same thing. Manny was the freakier of the two of us. His dad is part of a rock band and has never really set solid boundaries with his son, wanting him to be free creatively. So in school he says and does some odd things, and he was picked on until I started stepping in. _These guys are okay, they can be friends._

"So, you guys are twins, right?" Manny asked the most _obvious_ question. I sent him a look.

"Yep!" Kat told him. "Fraternal. I'm an hour older than Kit. What're you're guys' names again? And give me your screen names too!"

"Kat!" Kit reprimanded.

"Chill, bro! It's all good." Manny said to him. It doesn't matter how many times Manny introduces himself, he loves the attention. "The names Manny. As in _The_ Mannny. Or The Mann. Or The-Man90. That's nine-oh." _That's…my best friend for ya._

"As long as you don't call him Manning Rosen, it's fine." I said with a quick laugh.

"Angel!" he whined. "Every time, man…. I mean wo-man."

I smiled and then gave my own intro. "My name is Angelina. But Manny and everyone else calls me Angel. My online name is PerimPride."

"What color is your scanner?" Kit asked holding up his pale green one.

It was still in my hand and I held it up for him. "Purple! I like blue, but this one seemed right for me."

Simultaneously, Manny held up his dark green scanner and Kat held up a red one. Something was different about Kat's though. While all three of our scanners were slim and fit in the palm of our hands, hers was the older version that was bigger than her hand. Like the one my Dad had saved.

"Um, Kat, can I ask you something?" I said pointing to her scanner.

"It's a hand-me-down from Daddy-dear." She said putting it back in her pocket. "I outfitted it to do the same things as the new ones though." She got kind of a nostalgic look in her brown eyes. "It just meant so much to him, he always looked so alive when he talked about Chaotic."

Memories of my own dad came flooding back. He seemed to enjoy those old stories even more than I did. _Was Dad a Chaotic player too?_ "Mine too." I confessed to Kat. "At the time I thought he was just making up something to tell me about. Mom would get mad at him for getting me so riled up before bedtime."

Kit and Kat laughed. "Ours too!" Kit said. "Dad used to keep old boxes and help us make the backyard look like mountain ranges and caves in the Underworld. His stories would get kind of scary though…"

"But they would always be exciting!" Kat finished. "That's why we both made our screen names after Underworld Creatures."

Manny asked. "So you're both Underworld players?" The twins nodded. "Sweet! I'm a Mipedian maniac and little Angel here likes to crash in the Overworld."

I rolled my eyes good-naturedly. "But I also work Danians and the other tribes into my deck."

With a confident grin, Kat stood up from my seat. "Then in that case, since the four of us are now friends… I think our first Drome matches should be with each other!"

"Huh?" The rest of us looked at Kat shocked and confused.

"They'll be one-on-one matches. Me versus Angel, and Kit versus Manny!"

Kit's shoulders fell, he said to us, "Best to just go along with it. Once Kat gets fired up, it's best to just let her burn out."

Kat's eye narrowed as she smirked wide. "Hey, if I don't mean to decide everything. This is just the longest I've seen you talk to a girl and figure you wouldn't want to fight her."

Kit immediately blushed. The he glared angrily at his sister. "Alright, that's it, Kat! You and me in the Dromes for a one-on-one."

"Okay, by me!" Kat said. "But now I want things to be even more interesting."

"More?" I squeaked out. I was honestly feeling a little afraid of this.

"I don't want to leave our new friends out. So we'll make this a competition between the four of us." Kat explained while the rest of us listened. "After I beat Kit," he growled at her arrogant assumption. "I'll fight either Manny or Angel. And whoever wins after that faces the next person. You guys in?"

Manny got a big, excited smile on his face. He said to me, "Let's do it, Angel!"

I had thought before that _I_ was the adventurous one. But Kat here is on a whole other level. She seems pretty confident in her skills as they are now. I don't like physical fighting, and that mask-guy said we would be playing as Creatures. _What does that mean? Is he serious?_ I haven't lost my confusion, but a Chaotic game is definitely something I can understand. _Irony not lost on me._

"Okay, Taki-Names!" I said, determinedly smiling. "I'm in too!"

* * *

 **A/N: There will be a Bio for my OC Angel on my page. If you want an idea for what she look like.**


	3. First Steps to Greatness Part 3

**I'd like to thank the guest reviewer for asking me to continue! Thnak you! You really encouraged me to keep going.**

 **So here we go! (P.S. I'm not sure how good I am at describing battle scenes so please let me know.)**

* * *

We got to one of the overly complicated-looking domes and scheduled the first match. Kit was still ticked off at his sister who was walking ahead like she had already won, while Manny and I were looking around like tourists. All of this was still sinking in for me. Not just that Chaotic was real, but by the fact that Dad's stories could _also_ have been real!

"Did my mom ever know about this?" I asked no one in particular.

"Did she ever talk about Chaotic or Perim?" Kat asked from ahead.

"Just when she was telling Dad that he shouldn't get me excited and that I was getting too old for it."

Kit looked over at me quizzically. "Hmm." He shared a look with his sister that she just shrugged at. "Maybe she did know, and she just didn't want you to feel disappointed that you would never get to see it too."

"Dudes, this place is beyond awesome!" Manny cried, pumping his fists in the air. "Why would it just shut down out of the blue?"

"No one knows." Kit told us. "Our dad never really told us that part. But apparently it's back up again. Should we tell him about this?" He directed the question to Kat's back.

She replied. "Maybe not in text. The next time he comes home we should say something." Suddenly she stopped. "You know-oof!" None of us had been ready for her to stop and we all crashed and toppled on top of her. Kit fell on her, I tripped on Kit and Manny tripped on me.

People were laughing around us. When no one came to help we got off ourselves. Brushing ourselves off, Kat said, "As I was saying: we never settled on a prize for the victor."

"You get to say you beat all of us on your first day." Kit said. "Aren't bragging rights enough for you?"

"Never." She deadpanned. "How about this, little bro? Since it's our first day in Chaotic, the winner gets to decide where we first go in Perim."

That offer made me do a double-take. _Go anywhere in Perim?_ All the places I've battled, all the places I used to dream of seeing, all those places Dad talked about; I could ACTUALLY go! The Forest of Life, Kiru City, Lake Kenepo… All in my scanner and now just a button away?

"Yes!" I jumped and agreed before I could contain myself. People stared at me and I laughed in embarrassment.

"Whao," Manny patted me on the shoulder. "Somebody's hyped! Angel's usually the in-the-cool one."

"Then the prize is set." Kat put her hands on her hips.

"I-It makes more sense too." I said, overcoming my sudden shyness. "To go in a group I mean. I want go, but I'd be afraid going by myself." I'd always imagined going there with Dad. In his stories he'd said that Locations alone can be more dangerous than running into Creatures. As we walked on to the Battledrome, I flipped through the locations in my deck to decide where might be a good place to start. _Tourist sickness, and I haven't even battled yet._

* * *

We actually went to the BetaDrome and got a match right away. Kit was still fuming over his sister teasing him, so they went first while Manny and I waited outside the dome.

"Pretty funky looking, eh Ange?" Manny elbowed me pointing up to the BetaDrome.

"Yeah…" I replied. I was only half-paying attention to what Manny was saying. "This whole thing overwhelming, Manny. What did that masked-guy mean when he said we could turn into Creatures? Do you think he was serious?"

"People in masks shouldn't generally be trusted, Angel." He said. "Masked wrestlers, masked intruders, masked emails, masked ninjas, masked magicians-" I quickly covered Manny's mouth with my hand.

"I get it." I took my hand away and said, "There are just so many questions I have. But most of them lead back to: how real were the things Dad told me? He never, ever said this was real. Mom is the realistic one and she always put it down like it was just a game. Did she know about it? Did my Dad ever got to Chaotic?"

"Whoa-Whoa! Easy does it!" Manny was gripping his head with both hands. "I'd be taking the math test than your line of unanswerable inquiry."

"Well, you've already used two words I thought you wouldn't know." I said.

"Okay there!" He smiled and pointed right at me. "That's the Angel I know. Now just make sure she stays there and we can ride this ride out."

 _Sometimes Manny is a goof, and sometimes he's the brother I've never had,_ But looking up at Kit and Kat right now, their sibling relationship is a battle in and of itself! I watch, learning how everything is set up. The scanners are put in pedestal-like holders, and then some screen projections appeared in front of each of them. We could hear them talking as we watched on some stands outside.

"Think Dad's gonna flip when we tell him about this?" Kat asked as she arranged her deck.

Kit answered her crossly. "That Chaotic is back? Maybe. But me beating you in a Chaotic match? That's happened before." That earned him an angry look from Kat.

"I wouldn't bet on your Mom believing you, Angel." Manny said sitting next to me. "If she ever did go to Chaotic, you would have heard her talking about it."

" _Welcome, Players to Battledrome Crellan! "_ A deep, mechanical voice seemed to echo from that floating symbol target above Kit and Kat. They did, and the Drome-voice spoke again. " _Kat Kalinkas, online name Taki-Names67 and Kit Kalinkas, online name All-H'earring53; this is the first Chaotic match for the both of you. Since Taki-Names issued the challenge, All-H'earring shall be the attacking player."_

I watched as closely as I could. Seeing them turn certain spinner and moving cards around on the effects screen. _Just like in the online game, then._ It's good that the rules and layout aren't all that different. I thought that would make the game easier. The match was set up to be one-on-one. So I figured it would be over quick.

Then things got freaky.

The location was chosen: The Lava Pond. Kit called out like a battle cry. "Magmon attacks… Takinom."

We watched at the touched their scanners one last time, before the pedestal sunk into the floor with the devices. The moment they were gone a vortex of white light swirl around the red-head siblings. Manny gasped along with me as we watched as the light gave way to the very forms the two had declared for their match.

Magmon, a humanoid mass of black rock with lava visible beneath his form, studied his arms and legs and shifted around like he was uncomfortable. Takinom, the winged, scaly, female general of the Underworld examined her claws in awe, then looked behind her to test her wings like she had never had them.

"Kit? Kat?" I stood up and stared at the screen. _Are those… real? Is this what that guy meant? Where are Kat and Kit?_

"I think that's them!" Manny exclaimed.

In the Battledrome, Magmon said to Takinom, "…Sis?"

Taknom looked across the room at Magmon, "Kit…?"

The look on their faces were mirrors of shock despite that looked much less similar to each other now. "Awesome!" the both cried out.

And the Drome was filled with a white light. When it cleared, they were facing each other in the dark, rocky, lava filled wasteland of the Underworld. I tried to make eye-contact with Manny, but he wasn't looking away for anything. _It looks like the two of them are okay, despite their bodies completely changing. If that's gonna happen to me and Manny, I should watch and learn while I can._ So I glued my eyes to that screen.

Kit charged and Kat, he was slow to start but gained some momentum. Kat extended her claws like she was going to stop him. But it wasn't enough as she was slammed right into a boulder behind her. _Is he really trying to hurt his sister?!_ The next second Kat, as Takinom, called out, "Eat flames!" and fire shot out of her mouth like a dragon!

Magmon only waved it out of his face, but it was enough for Takinom to break free. She tried to fly, but Kat was new to having wings and stumbled after just a few flaps. "Okay, okay!" I heard her saying. "Work with me here."

"Try this!" Magmon yelled. "Rock wave!" He hit the ground with his fists a series of rocks shot out of the ground towards Takinom, as did the lava that was part of the environment. It hit her hard. It showed on another screen the power and states of the match, and Takinom's just showed she took some damage. Back in the Lava Pond, Takinom looked like she definitely had taken a good hit.

"Kat!" Magmon called out like he was worried and regretful. He started lumbering up to his sister' new form when she leapt in the air and cried out, "Flame Orb!" Sending him toppling onto his back.

Takinom laughed triumphantly as she took to the air. "I'm just fine, bro. But a battle is a battle! Neither of us leaves here until the other goes down." Magmon growled at her in response. He rolled to the side and pushed himself up, but he quickly fell down again. _Magmon looks like he'd be really heavy. Guess that means in the dromes you get the 'real body' experience._ I wondered if that also means he's impervious to the heat from lava.

Takinom took advantage of his unbalance swooped down on him. She tried to pick Magmon up, but he was too heavy for her. She ended up dropping him… right into the Lava Pond! They both cried out, until Kit's Creature disappeared under the glowing liquid earth. Takinom fell to the ground, all thoughts of her wings gone. "No! Kit!" she sounded like Takinom (or something different than her own voice) but her words were 100% Kat. "I'm so sorry!"

Outside, where I was watching with Manny, I said. "Manny… Did….Did Kit just die?"

The sound of a soda slurping broke my focus from the monitor. Apparently Manny had gotten a soda. "What? Sorry, I missed it." I punched him on the shoulder, and not in the friendly way.

"Pay attention this time!" And my sight returned to the match.

Somehow Magmon had managed to climb up one of the boulders, simultaneously shooting fire attacks back and forth with Takinom. The two weren't bantering any more, the attacks were speaking for them. Rock waves, Flame Orbs, even old-fashion fist fighting were going on in there. _So it's all fair game in there, huh? I recognize those attacks too. Normally you need a card or know the ability to state the attack, how do Kit and Kat know what to do?_

"Alright, Magmon!" Takinom roared furiously. "Time to remind _you_ why Takinom is the alpha-female of the Underworld!" Dodging a flame attack Takinom swooped in and picked up Magmon from behind. He cried out, but this time she wasn't going to drop him. She started flying around in a circle with him, picking up speed a little at a time. Faster and faster, until even Manny and I started feeling dizzy! Then he grabbed his arm with both claws and used her momentum to start spinning him around and around just herself. Until, finally, she threw him… Right. Into. The wall.

The screen went white. Then the green room inside the Battledrome returned. Standing right where they had started was an unharmed Kit and… Takinom? " _The winner of this match: Taki-Names!_ "

"Wo-hoo!" Takinom cheered as she jumped up and morphed back into being Kat. "Taking names and taking out! That's me' game!"

Kit, back in his human form, groaned and placed his hand to his head. The other hand picked up the scanner. "Yeah, yeah… Fine. Go ahead, brag away. You only win for today, Kat." I didn't see them walking out, it only took one shared look between me and Manny before we rushed off to see them.

We met them outside the Drome a short time later in the Port Court. Manny burst into a fan-craze before I could even get started. "Bros! That was- Like- INSANE! I mean, you were Takinom and Magmon! And you were REALLY fighting at Lava Pond!"

"I know right!" Kit answered back just as excited. "I was practically starstruck! Nothing could have prepared me for this! I even FELT like I was Magmon."

"Did you guys really get hurt?" That was my big question. What are we really getting into if we go in that drome?

Kat answered. "Thing is: We did and we didn't." We sat on a bench near a plant-like-hedge as we listened to her explain. "When we were the Creatures we could tell we were hurt, and how much, but it wasn't like taking a real hit. And believe me, I've taken a few."

"She has." Kit confirmed.

"Anyway, when the match was over Kit and I were back to 100%. It was more like we had run a marathon than thrown fireballs at each other. It's really like the Creature is the one fighting. Once you set your mind like that, you get what you're supposed to do!"

 _Well, that's helpful._ So no one really gets hurt. _But we are doing some of the work because the player feels tired afterwards._ Knowing that, I did feel like I could begin enjoying coming to Chaotic now. It's still a game, just a lot more interactive!

"So, who's my next victim?" Kat asked, rubbing her hands together.

"Me! Me!" Manny stood up and raised his hand. "Sorry Angel! But this game looks too good to miss out on."

"That's fine with me." I said. "I'll can go after."

"So Mr. Man thinks he can beat me when my own brother couldn't?" Kat challenged. Maybe she just likes getting her potential opponents worked up and ready to go? Kind of like how I tease Manny right before an online or card match.

"Imma lot more man than he is!" Manny laughed patting his large stomach. We all laughed.

* * *

As Manny and Kat went to the Drome to get ready, I had some time to talk with Kit. That match had kinda dried him out, so we each got a drink while we waited. "Um…." Kit said, scratching his head nervously. "Sorry about my sister."

I blinked up at him. "What are you apologizing for? She hasn't done anything wrong."

"Well… thanks. But I know she and I can be hot-heads. Kat's always been aggressive, but she's not mean or anything. This Chaotic thing is also a huge deal for her… She really used to get into Dad's games when we were little. Safe bet if she could have come to Chaotic before this: she would have gone straight to the Underworld."

I took a drink of my own soda. I could taste it, feel it, and it was good. I was talking to Kit, though I couldn't look up from my drink. "Same with me…" I remember sitting on my bed, looking up at Dad as he explained every Location, and told me about every Creature. They all had personalities some were funny, others were brave, some were loyal and others were wise. There were bag guys in the stories plenty of times. Dad even used had a few of those in his deck. "When I was a kid my Dad made his stories seem so real! Mom was my anchor back to reality, but she never stopped me from playing the game. I'm still going over what he used to tell me! If I knew all this was for real, then for sure I would have wanted to come."

"Well, we're all going once this little tournament is finished!" Kit seemed to have regained some his enthusiasm. "Kat will stand by her deal that we all go together. Even if she loses. It's safer anyway since no one has any idea what to expect. Our dads' generation or not, it'll be rough territory wherever we go."

"If Manny wins, he'll definitely want to check out a Mipedian Location." I said. "That's fine… I just might be on edge in a place where giant lizards and turn invisible and sneak up behind me."

"If you really like Overworlders, then you already know they won't lay out the welcome mat either." Kit pointed that out. "I'm not trying to offend anybody, I just want to have a clear picture of what expect. Humans haven't been in Perim for about three decades or so. Chances are these Creatures might or might not be so accepting of us coming back."

"Why do you say that, Kit?" I asked.

He leaned back and folded his arms, with an unsure look on his face. "Realistically: we don't know _why_ Chaotic was shut down. There's a good chance that something in Perim happened and it wasn't safe for humans afterward."

I had wondered about. In all the excitement I guess it just slipped my mind. "But that Codemaster guy said we could go."

"Yeah, he did. But he didn't guarantee that the residence would be okay with us. That's why here you're scanner is your life!" Kit was totally serious behind those pinkish glasses. "The breaking of your scanner is the breaking of your body."

"And vice versa." I agreed.

"Either way, you're gone and out." Kit continued. "So be careful with what you chose as a prize. Kat will choose an Underworld Location. I don't know which, but it's no place for a rookie to get their feet wet. She'll get in way over her head even if we don't run into a creature and be code right from the start! Ugh, plus if she wins it will really go to her head…"

As Kit groaned in annoyance, I could stop myself from giggling. He looked up at me oddly. "No! No! I'm sorry!" I quickly apologized though I kept on smiling. "It's just- That's probably the same thing Manny will do!" As I talked with Kit he listened on with mild interest. "Manny isn't my brother. But we've been friends for so long that it feels like he really his. Even back on Earth he would usually do or say something crazy and I would have to bail him out. And just as many times when I wanted to do something, Manny's always had my back. If he wins I'll back him up on where he wants to go. Part of the fun is the surprises. I'm sure you just want to choose a safer Location in the Underworld than Kat might want!"

At the end, Kit's eyes looked bigger. Like he was realizing something or had just heard something so new to him. _I did get a little too open there. Maybe I just said too much?_ "Erm… Sorry. That was kind of out there!" I took a huge sip through my straw to wash down the embarrassment. _I hadn't meant to reveal so much! But there's just something about those two. It's so odd… but it feels like I've been friends with both of them for a long time, and we only met a few hours ago._

"No it's…" Somehow, he seemed almost as embarrassed as I was. "It's just that hard to find someone who relates to my situation with Kate." That was the first time I heard him call her that. "My sister… You've seen how she is a little, but I know where it counts she's got my back too. Just wish she wasn't so forceful about it. You're easy to talk to… Angel."

Before we could continue, Manny and Kat's match just got started. Manny would be the attacking player, since this was still her challenge. _I need to watch this real close now. I'll be going up against either one of them next._ Manny chose Siado as his attacking Creature. Kat was sticking with Takinom.

"That's kind of unfair." I stated. "She's already gotten used to Takinom. Shouldn't Kat be trying someone new?"

"If it's not in the agreed rules, she can do it." Kit simply replied. "Kat's a big Takinom fan. She probably wants to learn (heaven forbid) whatever she can about her big hero."

I kind of agreed with that. I wasn't even sure of where I wanted to go in Perim. Really I should have been concentrating on who I was going to battle with! I thought of my Danians… but it might be too big of a change to suddenly get four additional legs. Manny might let me get used to that, Kat would be a different story. She was playing to win! Plus not a lot of Danians are good at water, and that definitely would be a big help if she sticks with Takinom. _Then maybe I-_

"Angel, are you watching?" Kit snapped me out of my thoughts. "The Location is the Sha-Kree Flats. You remember that Location's influence right?"

I did. "Each Creature's health drops after each attack. It's also a strategic place for an Elementalist because they can gain one elemental attack at the start."

Kit blinked twice. _I guess he wasn't expecting me to know._ He picked up his drink and said. "I think you and I are going to get along a-okay. Watch the match, you'll have the best chance if you can pick up on my sister's strategy."

Following Kit's advice, I did. Sha-Krees Flats is nothing but dry, cracked earth for miles and miles. I called it a good strategic move on Manny's part. It's the complete opposite of where Kat was battling in the Underworld. And she doesn't have any rocks to throw him against or hide behind. _Manny really was watching!_ Takinom (Kat) was firing orbs again from up in the air, getting visibly tired after each throw.

"Guess ya didn't know!" Shouted Siado (Manny), dodging attacks by moving left and right. "You can't afford to miss! Every attack does damage on ya Taki!"

Takinom growled angrily. She landed on the cracked earth, sweating hard. _Why didn't she sweat in the Lava Pond?_ I decided not to question it too far. Siado turned invisible, which made the match seem all the more frustrating to Takinom. She looked around, even spreading out her wings like she was ready to jump and take flight at even the hint of an attack.

The whole Drome was still. Only the wind made any noise. _Yeah, there's apparently wind._

Takinom's eyes were darting in every direction. Manny was smart to pick this Location. I wonder how does he goes invisible? I didn't see him activate anything like mugic. So I can guess special abilities like that just play in with the Creature. _This is so cool! I can't wait for my turn!_ The match was still going. Takinom won't make any kind of attack now that she knows it will weaken her. _It's possible Manny is waiting for her to run out of patience so she attacks and he can have a little more of an advantage over her._ Manny's pretty much a goof in every area except in Chaotic games. There, he's serious.

Kit and I were on the edge of our seats waiting for something to happen. _Manny must really be enjoying his dramatic approach. If only he would GET ON WITH IT!_

Then right behind Takinom, he appeared. "Cyclone Slash!" I gust of air came off of Siado and hit Takinom right in her wings! The impact caused her to cry out and knocked down onto the ground. Next Siado raised his hand in the air, a BattleGear I recognized as The Indigo Arc.

"How do you summon BattleGear?" I asked Kit watching Manny approach Kat.

"I- I don't know!" Kit gasped. "It didn't use any! I wanted to settle the match the same way Kat did. Real fighting with no gear!"

"Guess that's fair game too. Manny really was watching. He knew he needed to be unexpected to beat Kat at this." I felt proud of him for minute. Then realized that Manny winning would mean I'd have to face him next. I didn't feel too good about that…

The axe he had summoned was known not to miss, and Takinom was too damaged to be able to move very fast. I bit my lip, guessing at the outcome. She glared over her shoulder at the approaching Mipedian. "Fortissimo!" She called out.

 _Mugic?!_

I heard the tune play and a shower of golden light fell over Takinom. The moment it did, she grew to at least ten times her original height! Blocking out the sun over the dried wasteland, casting a dark shadow over Siado. He froze. Eyes bulging he dropped his axe, completely taken off guard. Giant Takinom grinned sadistically, raised her foot and stomped him out.

Kat had won again.

Since I hadn't wanted to fight Manny I should have felt relieved then. Instead there were about five knots on my stomach. I pushed my soda away. "Well…" I breathed. "That's that."

"Yeah." Kit agreed. "Did you learn anything?"

I looked up at him. I got the feeling that somehow Kit wanted his sister to lose. Not just so he wouldn't have to go to her Underworld choice prize, from talking to him I knew there was more to it than that.

"Um…" I replayed the two matches I had watched today side by side. "Kat really like Takinom… and since she's won twice with her, Kat's likely gonna use her again. I should pick a Creature that counters out Takinom, like one with water abilities."

"That's good." Kit stated like he was a professor and eagerly urged me on. "Now on strategy…"

* * *

 **A/N: Who will win?**

 **Where will they go?**

 **Who will they fight with?**

 **Do you careto know?**

 **How is this looking so far? Seriously, I'd like to know.**


	4. First Steps to Greatness Part 4

**Disclaimer: I own only Angel, Manny, Kat and Kit because they're my OC's!**

 **Does anyone want to guess at who their parents are? The Twins are obvious, and I've said Manny's last name. Angel's might be obvious too (depending).**

* * *

I was standing just outside the Drome. Kat was waiting inside. I was _all_ nerves. Manny was standing next to Kit off to the side. "You put that Underworlder in her place, Ange!" Manny cheered.

"Ignoring that." Kit stated to Manny, then to me: "You've got a solid strategy and know what to expect. Good luck, Angel!"

Looking over my shoulder, I smiled and nodded at them. I have never been so nervous about anything- No, the school play tryouts, but still! Once I went in there I would be changed, put into battle and then either come out a winner or a loser. _No pressure…_ I breathed. _This is just a game. I won't even really get hurt._ The fact that this was a game did give me one, solid drive.

 _I'm playing to win!_

Still I didn't walk in there with much confidence. Maybe that was why Kat was smirking as I walked holding my scanner close to my chest. "I've been waiting for you to come in, Overworlder." She said.

I didn't say anything, I just felt a slight glare creep onto my face as she said that. "Oh, I came to win _Underworlder_." Kat's eyes narrowed.

I locked in my scanner and began arranging. _Okay… so water Creatures include Intress, Owis, Antidaeon, and Katharaz. I'll just stick to the ones who have two legs. A Torrent Krinth is a good BattleGear to start with. And I need to pick one good mugic._ For Location, I put in a place Dad told me about in the Overworld, it seemed right to start out there.

"You've seen me smoke both my brother and your best friend, PerimPride." Kat said once she was ready. "I haven't picked the Location I want yet, but just in case… Where do you want to go?"

I looked over at her before I put in my last choice. "Hopefully, it's a place we all will like. But you'll have to wait until after I win to see it." I gave myself a boost of confidence.

"Ooo!" Kat mocked. "And I had you for a 'good-girl'. Glad to see you've got some bite."

I locked in. My scanner went down and our battleboards came up. My eyes went wide at the sight of it. Takinom wasn't there.

"Chaor!?" I shouted out.

"Surprise!" Kat stated. "This is the last match, so I thought I'd change things up to be more interesting. 'Chaotic' _is_ the name of the game."

I knew she was right. I hated to admit it, but she had gone completely against the strategy Kit and I had made. _Chaor still breathes fire, so that advantage is still in. But he's the Underworld Tribe Leader! He's way stronger than Takinom!_ The mugic and BattleGear I have may not cut it aymore.

" _PerimPride,_ " The Drome-voice sounded out. " _Activate the Location Randomizer and state your attacking and target Creature._ " I got my game-face on. Now I was mad, and I felt ready! I spun the wheel between our two Locations. It landed on mine.

" _Glacier Plains._ " The voice stated.

I called out, "Intress attacks Chaor!"

I saw a ring of light form around me. As it rose up and around my body. I could _feel_ myself changing! My shoes morphed into unprotected feet with claws. My muscles stretched and became longer, along with the rest of my body. My clothes changed to that of Intress' and orange fur grew on every inch of me! It wasn't painful, instead it felt like I was becoming something far stronger than my normal self. I was becoming something deadly, fierce and unstoppable! The stretching and fur eventually made it all the way up to my face which changed with it. Opened my eyes. I looked down at my hands.

They weren't mine.

Neither was the tail!

"If mom caught me in this outfit, she'd lock me up for life!" I covered my mouth. My voice was now of an older woman's. Intress was a lot like a tiger, and her voice was somewhere between a giant cat's and a strong woman you wouldn't want to mess with!

"Take a minute, I can wait." Said a deep, male, gravelly voice. I looked up across the room, there was Chaor where Kat had been standing. "Your friend Manny screamed when he saw _his_ tail." _Must have missed that when I was talking to Kit._ Kat flexed her new, giant red muscles. "Now I really feel _powerful!_ "

I smiled and looked at her challengingly. It even felt like some of Intress' own confidence and come in along with the new body. "How many pounds did you gain from that?"

Chaor's eyes went wide, then angry looking over at my new form. "Oh.. No. You. Didn't!" Yep, there's still another girl under all that.

I was blinded by a bright flash, then I felt a cold wind blowing all around me.

* * *

Glacier Plains. The frozen Artic of Perim, and the place were Dad told me he had his first battle in. I was instantly glad I chose a Creature like Intress who had plenty of fur.

I shivered, only at the suddenness of the temperature change. "Good thing the cold doesn't bother her too much." I said in my new voice. I looked around, when I didn't see Chaor (Kat), I decided to take this moment to get used to my body. _Intress is bipedal so there shouldn't be much change._ I felt where my knee was, I raised it up and took a step. Because Intress is much taller than I am the step went farther. I was kind of amazed by this, and took another. And another. And another!

I felt the urge to start running, my body didn't fight it. My new body longed to be moving fast, to erase the feeling of cold and snow and move in any way I felt I wanted to. My claws sunk into the snow, but Intress is so limber that it felt like she could jump or dodge in any direction! "This is amazing!" I cried out like a little girl!

"No kidding!"

The second I looked, I was hit by a flaming fireball. "Augh!" it knocked by back, hard. But like Kit had said I didn't feel like I was hurt. I could feel Intress' power be drained, however the 'me' inside of the creature was perfectly fine. I had a feeling that if this was really real, I'd be down and out with a third-degree burn in my side.

In the direction of the shot, walked a shivering Chaor from an ice cave. It was actually funny seeing the fierce leader of the Underworld hugging himself from the cold. "I-I-I've b-b-b-battled i-in a la-lava hole and-d-d-d desert! Th-This!?"

Smirking I got up and said, "I'm toasty!" Kat growled in frustration. "Wanna drink?" I had asked Manny how to summon BattleGear before the match. But just to be safe, I called it out. "Torrent Krinth!" and it appeared on Intress' wrist. I fired and aimed it at Chaor! _Bullseye!_

To add insult to injury, Chaor was now soaked to the bone in a freezing wasteland. And he had lost about 10 of his 65 energy. _I'll know when my numbers are right when Kat or I'm code._ "Blech!" Chaor coughed out the mouthful of water. "YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THAT!" He slammed both fists on the ground "ROCKWAVE!" A series of rocks came out of the ground and made a bee-line right towards me! I jumped.

And when I say 'jumped' I mean Intress launched herself up into the air away from the attack. My mind was in a spin, so I barely registered that I had landed safely in the snow. "Wow," I said, still in a state of shock. "I guess cat really do land on their feet."

"You're not getting off that easy, Intress!" Chaor roared.

With Intress' senses I could even _smell_ the burning brimstone of the Underworld on him. And it finally dawned on me that I was really doing this. _I can't think of this as I'm fighting another human girl. I'll just keep dodging until I lose that way. I am Intress and over there is Chaor, the face of the enemy. I'm one of the fiercest Warriors of the Overworld! I can't let him just take a hit at me and get away with it!_ Psyched, I began to remember the plan I made with Kit back in the Port Court.

He said that Kat's style is hit hard and hit hot. She's also keeps herself mentally ready for sneak attacks. Since she's not Takinom and Chaor doesn't have wings, I won't have to worry about looking up for my enemy. I'll just have to edit the plan we made around Chaor's limitations and Kat's method of fighting. _She thinks she has me on the run._ And I was running, but sending blasts of water her way so she wouldn't lose me. _Kit tried to match her in fist-a-cops and Manny tried to use mugic and special abilities._ Kat thinks she's got the lead on us since she's won two out of three. All I have to do is make her lose _once_.

I made it to the perfect spot. An area in Glacier Plains where there's a dangling ice cliff over my head. I just have to make sure it's ready to go at the right time. "Grr!" I could hear and smell her a ways behind me. But for Intress' nose, ears and instincts, Chaor was already getting closer at a steady, charging speed. "Better be quick. Pebble storm!" I shot at the ceiling above, the ice was too thick so I tried somewhere else. Nothing was working, and a stronger attack would alert Chaor! There were plenty of ice boulders and formations to hide around, I decided to go for an ambush and try my luck during a face off instead.

"Intress~" Chaor sing-songed once he arrved. "Come on out, Kitty-cat~!" I have a tasty Flame Torrent with your name on it."

 _The cat-thing? Really?_ I figured why not as I climbed up a large boulder to get a jump on my opponent. _Water's still my best bet, I should have chosen a Location that ups those attacks. But now's not the time to think that!_ I got a little higher, and Chaor was still looking around. I jumped and mid-air cried out, "Rip Tide!" and two gushing torrents of water came out from my hands. It felt like the power came from my arms and reaching past to somewhere in my very core! Chaor saw me at the moment I screamed out and called for a "Magma Might!" Which went over my right attack.

Fire and water hit each of us, dealing a lot of damage. Chaor was knocked to the ground, and I was hit so hard that I bounced of a giant icicle and sent sliding onto the floor. Toward Chaor! I was dizzy from the attack and not fully in control as I zoomed on one foot. I felt myself collide with the fiery Underworlder and we both coughed from the impact, but kept going from my momentum until Chaor's back hit the frozen wall.

My vision was blurry as I tried to get up, but I still saw the giant crack traveling up the ice wall towards the cliff. "Yipe!" I screeched out in a very un-Intress way. Using all four limbs I made a break to get clear form the cliff. Behind me, Chaor was taking longer to recover holding his head with one hand. I heard him groan and grumble as he must have tried to get up then slip on the ice and snow. I could hear another kind of rumbling coming from above me. It made me leap and run faster to get out from under the cliff. Without even thinking I called back, "Run! It's gonna fall!"

I don't know if she got up and tried to get out, or if she didn't hear me. I just remember making a sliding stop as I made it out into the open and saw the whole cliff of the glacier crashing down. And the blinding light returned.

* * *

Now we were back in the BattleDrome. Kat was back to her human form and I was….still Interess.

I had won.

I won?

"I won!" I jumped up and cheered at the white swirling light changed me back to my black-haired, pale-skinned self.

To confirm the declaration, the BattleDrome voice sounded. " _The winner is: PerimPride_. _Congratulations._ "

I had done it! "I won my very first Chaotic match!" I had played as Intress in Glacier Plains and beaten Chaor! Our scanner came back up and Kat and I both unlocked them from their stands. Kat had a look that I wasn't sure was agitated or resigned, but I was to absorbed in absolute glee that I didn't care. I ran straight to her and enveloped her in a tight hug. "Thank you!" I squealed. "Kat, that was the most awesome thing I've ever done! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!"

After a brief laugh, Kat patted me on the back. "Ha-Hey! Take it down a notch there, PerimPride. I wasn't even this happy when I first won!" She and I were both smiling as she kept an arm around me as we walked out.

Manny and Kit both came running up to us! Kit was looking proud,… for some reason, Manny wasn't. Kit spoke up first. "Angel, that was great! You used our strategy even after Kat changed her Creature choice. You didn't even have to use the mugic!"

"Yes, Kit I am devastated by my first loss." Kate said, sarcastically. "But please. Feel free to congratulate the person who left me to be crushed under the snow!"

Snoodily, Kit replied. "Seeing how you let two matches get to your head and left me alone with the person most likely to beat you from the start, I'd say it was your own fault you lost, Kat."

The two of them shared a glare, before Kat playfully punched him in the arm. The twins laughed and Kit said, "C'mon, I got you a feel-better chocolate shake."

Seeing's how Kit and Kat were now fine, I was now perplexed as to why Manny looked so upset. And at me. _Does hethink I shouldn't have won the match? He can't be jealous. Can he?_ "How did I do in there, Manny?" I asked eagerly. Yes, I was fishing for compliments, and still too excited to care.

"You won didn't you?" Manny replied crossing his arms. "Ya slipped-slide a few times, but ya came out on top."

"And…" I tried venturing a guess. "You're not happy that I won?"

"No, I'm happy for that." He said.

"Then what's wrong?"

"YOU GAVE KAT MY HUG!" he said. I leaned back from his yell. And it stopped the twins in their tracks. "You've given me that hug for fifteen years every time we do something great together! Then the second you win your first Chaotic match, you can't wait _five minutes_ before giving it to the closest person! Real, great friend _you_ are Angel, really great."

"That's what you're mad about?" Kit asked as he back with his sister.

"Yeah!" Manny threw up his arms like it was obvious. "That's _kind of_ important. I've been Angel's right-hand man since our diaper days. I _always_ get that hug! Not someone she only met a few hours ago and that throwing fireballs in her face!"

You might not think Manny was that serious about it. But he really was. I know how ridiculous that sounds, especially coming from a fifteen year-old boy. _Manny is Manny, I wouldn't want him to be anyone else._ So I giggled and explained. "Except when Mom's there. Manny, you know I always keep a spare of those right?"

"A spare _hug_?" Kat questioned.

"Yep!" I replied and gave a big hug to Manny. "Just in case."

Manny hugged back, saying happily. "Okay, that's better, Missy." When he let me go, he said in a British accent. "Now my fearsome foursome, we feast! In celebration of the victory of the Pride of Perim!"

* * *

Sure enough, we had a feast of burgers, fries and milkshakes. No one was mad about battles or losing or any mention of the matches. Though we had plenty to comment on as we watched other players battle from the Port Court. We shared our amazement at this whole adventure, and how we all looked forward to going back.

"Why do have to leave at all?" Manny said, still chewing. "We have Earth-selves that will keep our parents from worrying and school. Why even go back at all?"

"Chances are the yous, and us, back on Earth will think your scanners are broken and might try to replace them." Kat said. "If that happens, you'll be _stuck_ here forever, and if you get coded your other self will never know."

Kit continued. "Plus, Earth is as much part of the game as Chaotic and Perim. You can still find rare cards online from people who don't have codes and trade the cards you still have even if you don't have them over here."

"Ooo! Ooo!" Manny had finished with his food and looked over at me. "Angel's prize! Where did you pick to go?"

"Can we go right away, or do you want to port back home first?" Kat asked.

Kit was eager too. "Are we going to the Underworld or the Overworld?"

My straw was in my mouth, so it took just a moment for me to gulp and answer them. "Both." I told them.

"Both?" the whole table said in unison.

"This has all been a little much and I know our brains will definitely be on overload as it is. So why don't we go back home and them come here in an hour?" Safe money says Manny will have a head-rush and might even faint from all this new information. _I'll have to remember to breathe steadily myself._ "Then we can come back here and go to…" I pulled out my scanner for all of them to see the location.

"Cordac Falls!" I thought it would be the perfect Location for all of us. The Falls lead directly to the Underworld from the Overworld, and I've heard that a lot of action goes down around there so it'll be a great chance to test out our scanners and get used to Perim!

"Sweet!" Manny replied.

"Alright!" Kat cheered.

"Phew!" Kit whipped his brow.

Looks like they all have a Cordac Falls too. "But first," I slowed my speech. "How do we get home?"

We all took out their scanner and began studying them. There was no new button or instant return image on the monitors. Thankfully, one of the service robots spotted us and offered us help. It said we can leave home from anywhere in Chaotic when we press the target symbol on the top of our scanners.

"Well," Kat piped up, "See ya all in an hour!" And she ported home, fading into light before our eyes.

"I better go too." Kit said. "It'll be better if I know what she's talking about when she runs out of detention. See you, Manny! See you, Angel!"

It was just the two of us again. "I'm uh…" I had to confess. "A little unsure about this." _What if I just disappear?_

Manny elbowed me. "Hey, I came in here with ya, I' m going out with ya." He smiled at me encouragingly. I smiled back.

"On three."

* * *

 **Back on Earth…**

As Manny and I were walking down the street to home, I pulled out my broken scanner again. "Manny…" I sadly looked over at him. "I'm really sorry."

"What?" he raised an eyebrow at me. "Angel, it wasn't your fault. It was a accident! Well, an accident that we put in a code that killed both our scanners in three seconds and lost our online decks forever." My hand hit my own face in shame. "Still! It's not your fault. You take chances and sometimes you fall and sometimes you soar. Isn't that what your mom said?"

 _Yeah, but she's going to be a little ticked off about this._ Manny and I are still a year too young to get jobs, so this repair is going to have to come from chore-money. And Mom's not one to hold back when it comes to doing work. Even if we landscaped the whole yard for her it might not be enough to get a new scanner. I sighed; this would be a long, tough defeat to take.

Shorter than I expected when my scanner started sounding off and buzzing in my hands! I gasped, "Manny!" We both stopped and looked down at my scanner. "It's alive!" he cheered.

Happily relieved, I pressed on the blinking light. I gasped again as memories of a newfound land, a game, new friends and chances for greater adventure flowed into my mind! My head jerked back from the rush of images so new to my brain. "Whao!"

Manny came right over like a good friend and steadied me. "It's a miracle, but it's not _that_ amazing." He said.

"Quick, Manny, take out your scanner!" I told him.

He reached behind him and pulled it out of his backpack. "Oh, yeah! Maybe me too." The light was blinking, Manny pressed it. His face went blank as all the memories of Chaotic caught up to him. "Yow-zah!"

We looked around. We were back. School was over, and along with the memories of today were a whole set of impossible but real memories.

"Dude!" Manny said to me.

"I know!" I said to him.

"Dude!" His hands few up to his head.

"I know!" I broke out into a happy dance!

Manny watched, screaming out one last time, "Angel!"

"One hour!" I reminded him. "One hour and we go back and meet them in the Port Court!" We both sped home, happily laughing like little children.

My first day in Chaotic was a mind-blowing. I made two new friends, battled as one of my favorite Creatures, and won in my first match ever! I even had my first trip to real Perim planned! There was an unspoken agreement between Manny and I that our parents couldn't know about this. His dad was off touring and my Mom had never been a Chaotic Player. Neither of them would believe this anyway. I've just been there and I could barely believe it! My life would never be the same after today. My childhood dream of going to Perim was coming true!

My own adventures were just in their first steps. And what I was about to find out, was that the finish line would lead to something bigger than I had ever dreamed.

* * *

 **Next Time:**

 **The kids' first trip into Perim is to Cordac Falls!**

 **Every adveture needs some danger in the mix, and this is no exception.**

 **But what or who is waiting for them there?**

 **And even so... how has Perim changed since Chaotic was down?**


	5. Three Worlds Collide

**A/N:** **For the record, that is a picture of Angel on the story's icon.**

* * *

 **Starts on Earth...**

 **Angel's POV**

Even if my real self wasn't going, and would instead be stuck at home doing homework, I was still feeling like today was my birthday! "I'm going to Perim!" I tried to keep it as under my breath as possible. Mom still heard the squeak as she came to the front door.

Mom was a myrmecologist…. she studies ants. Yeah, believe me it's more interesting than it sounds! They look at a range of things from society cooperation methods to landscape designs, and relate ant society to human society. Mom's usually home late, so for her to answer the door right when I get out of school is pretty awesome. _But not as awesome as what I did today!_

Squealing, "Mommy!" I jumped up and hugged her around the middle. Mom was taken aback, then she hugged me back.

"Whoa! I was opening the door for my aloof, spunky, fifteen-year-old daughter. When did my cute, cheerful, five-year-old, Angelina get here?" She joked. _Yeah, she's where I get my terrific sense of humor and strong-woman morale from._ Mom is beautiful with her short blonde hair and teal-greenish eyes. The only family resemblance is our pale skin, and I also think I get my face-shape from her.

"Mom, I-" for a moment I briefly think about telling her. Chaotic might have been Mom's thing when she was a teenager, but that's not the case anymore. She's an adult woman, a scientist. I don't even think she went to Chaotic; she just had a few cards to give me that didn't even make a full deck.

I pulled out my scanner which was off. "I heard about a new program for the scanners in Chaotic Club today!"

Mom's interested was quipped for a second. Her voice remained neutral. "Oh, really?"

"Yeah! It's… It's not as huge as the history homework I have but, I got it as a prize for my 50th win online. They even let me share it with Manny." Hopefully, this will allow Manny to get away with a bit too. Manny goes straight to his house, then he comes over here for dinner or Mom and I go across to his. This keeps him on his toes to keep the house fairly clean. I meant it when I said Manny is like my brother, he suffers under the same Mom too!

When I told her about the new 'program', Mom sighed. "Angel… Sweetie, I don't want to stop you from having fun with your friends, but you do know you go to school to _learn_ , right?" A lot of the time my Mom is a killjoy, even when she's not trying to be. She hardly ever lets me or Manny do anything fun or exciting. Yeah, Moms are there to keep you safe, I know. _And a part of me was hoping she'd at least ask further about the program. If she did then it'd prove she used to be a Chaotic Player._ So I figured it was just Dad who went.

I kept a natural smile on my face, despite any inner disappointment. "I'm doing that! I even got a B on the last history exam. This is just so exciting because only Manny and I won it!"

"Can I see this new program?" Mom asked. "What's it called?"

 _Shoot!_ I forgot to be prepared for this line of Inquisition. I made something up on the spot that seemed legit. "Sure, Mom. But my scanner needs to reset and recharge for a while. I don't know how long; I really want you to see this!" That had part of the truth. I _was_ secretly hoping I could talk to Mom about this without her sending me to a therapist.

She looked skeptical for a second. _Either she buys it because she's never been there, or she doesn't because she's been there too!_ I really hoped for the latter. Mom and I are pretty close; I'd love to talk with her about Perim. I _want_ her to call my bluff and say she doesn't believe me.

"Did it cost you anything?" she asked. Inwardly, my face fell. Outwardly it was accepting. She was actually asking if s _he_ would have to pay. "Nope. It was more like a contest, my 50th straight win!"

"50?!" Sure, _that_ was the surprise for her. "Manny too?"

I was about to answer, when I realized the truth of the two emails. I hadn't really read Manny's, but I knew for a fact that he didn't have that kind of a winning streak lately. "Uh….I'm not really sure what his category was, Mom. But he got it too!"

"Then I guess it's a good thing I ordered all three of our favorite pizzas tonight!" At Mom's sentence, I was able to forgive her for not being a Chaotic  
Player!

* * *

 **In Chaotic:**

I left myself at home doing my homework ( _Wow, that could not sound any more weird)_ with a plan of what to tell Mom if she asked anything else about the new program. I made sure to send a text to Manny about it so our stories would be straight. Then I activated my scanner and found my second trip to Chaotic much easier than the first.

There were still a lot of people hanging around. "Okay," I said to myself, walking off the transport. "Now just need to wait for the others-"

"A self-talker, huh?" The voice that surprised me from behind was none other than my new friend: Kat Kalinkas. She folded her arms as she walked up to me. "Well, that's fine I guess. Kit and Dad do that too."

Kat Kalinkas. In the few hours I knew her I'd learned this: She's an Underworld player; She's a twin, a daredevil, and a Chaotic-savvy know-how. I have a good feeling that she's a worth-while friend. I mean, our whole trip is because we all had a mini tournament and she won all the others except mine. She even looks pretty psyched to be here.

"Ha, ha!" I laughed sarcastically. Then I noticed Kat had a backpack dropped by her side. "Where did you get that?"

Kat looked down at the bag then up at me. "Another feature about this place." She explained. "I was holding onto my own pack when I came over here, and when I logged on it just came with me."

This was a surprising discovery. I scratched my head and reasoned it out. "Well, I guess it counts as clothes when the scanners log us in. I mean, imagine if the first time you got your code and you were in your underwear or something."

She laughed. "Underwear! That'd be humiliating."

The rest of our group chose now to appear on the transport. "Girls talk about underwear?" observed Kit, Kat's twin brother. He's a lot more rational than his sister.

"The secret is out!" declared Manny, slightly eccentric, but the best friend I've ever had. "Girls pretend to be better than us, until they think no one is listening."

"Let's not go there, Manny." I warned him. "Check it out! Kat's brought her own backpack."

"Why?" Manny asked.

Kat put an evil grin on her face and told him. "To see if I Creature eats my homework, it will come back demolished and I can have an auto A+!"

 _If this little band is this interesting before our first trip to Perim, what kind of adventure am I in for?_ I was so excited. I could just feel that this was going to blow every trip to a national museum, amusement park and camping trip I had ever been on! My choice Location was Cordac Falls, it would be the first trip to Perim for me, Manny, Kit and Kat! Normally, I'd have and itching picture finger for this big of a trip, but the goal was to come back of scans of the Location and maybe even a Creature or two!

 _Oh, my gosh the Creatures!_ I lingered on my thoughts as the other three discussed Kat's backpack coming over. I looked through my scanner again. I knew everything about these cards. One the first things I learned was the little quotations on some of them that reveal stuff about their personalities and experiences. I tried to recall if any of them spent a lot of time around the Falls. Remembering what Dad told me would be a lot to shuffle through, all of it was too much at once. _I wonder if there's any chance there are some of them who remember Dad?_ He wasn't the only Chaotic Player, despite my initial imaginings. But he did talk about being friends with some of them.

"Hello~! Angel, do you copy?" Manny called into my ear.

I jolted out of my thoughts to see the three of them staring at me. "Sorry, I… I was just thinking…" _Come to think of it, all of us here are second-generation players._ "Does anyone know how long it's been, in Perim-terms, since humans came here?"

Manny said. "About thirty years. Could be older, depending how old our folks were at the time."

"And Perim runs on a different time system." Kit chimed in. "Two years for us is just one year for them. _Solons_ , is the term I think."

"So…" Manny took in this information. "Is a day for us, like a half-day for them?"

"I don't think that's how it works." Kit said, but he looked unsure.

I summarized the answer. "But if thirty years have gone by for us, that's just fifteen for them!"

Kat pushed through our line of questions, physically. "Argh! Why are we even asking this when we could be already out there? So, what if there hasn't been a single human here in a while? That was our parent's turn, now it's us who have a go!"

Manny pumped his fist in agreement. "Yeah!"

"I guess it's not _that_ important." Kit said, adjusting his glasses.

 _I think it's important._ I kept my thoughts to myself. "Okay! Everyone got a Cordac Falls in their deck? It's my choice, but I don't want to leave anyone behind." Manny, Kit and Kat all held up their scanners to show my they had the Falls. At this point my excitement was about to explode. "Sweet~! I can't believe we're really going!" I was jumping from foot to foot!

"Get used to this, guys." Manny said to the twins. "Whenever Angel gets psyche she's-"

Kat came and grabbed my hands, jumping in time with me. "I know! I know!"

"Already used to it." Kit whispered to Manny.

The two of them shared a look. Then Manny broke into our celebration circle. "Woo-hoo!" To which Kit shrugged and let himself join in our happy reverie. We didn't even notice the people staring at us.

It turned out Kat bringing her own backpack was a moot point, as the Transport Center also had an equipment shop that could get what we needed, and without any kind of return policy. It was also an apparent new feature to Chaotic, or just something Kat and Kit's Dad glossed over. _My dad didn't really go into this much detail either._ In the end, we decided we could port back if we need anything, so we didn't need backpacks for a short trip.

"Okay! Enough fluff and filler, let's go already!" Manny tapped his foot impatiently. Kat was right next to him doing pretty much the same as Kit and I came running up. "I already got the 4-1-1 on how port back-and-to from those lil' robots. Everybody stand on a circle!"

From there Manny's directions went like this:

1\. Stand in middle of the white circle.

2\. Bring up the Location on the scanner.

3\. Set to transport on options.

4\. Press center button.

For me, I automatically held my breath on step 4. I don't know if I can describe the sensation of being teleported… because I was so awestruck at where I was in just one second!

I was standing in a forest. Cool, clean air was blowing. Dark green, light green and every green in between leaves curled and flowed from all around. Trees reaching up towards the sky of pale blue almost made me think I was back on Earth. But the flowers were different. The smell of the air was different. Even the soil beneath my feet felt on odd combination of soft, yet firm. And if I needed one more confirmation that I hadn't accidently ported home somehow, the all three of my friends standing with me, equally amazed, was enough.

We were in Perim.

The thought just hadn't quite sunk in yet.

"Guys…!" Kit's eyes couldn't get any bigger.

"We're…" Kat's jaw was wide open!

Then Manny said, "Do you guys see a bathroom?"

To which the twins joined me in saying: "Manny!"

After that, we began our first look at Perim. It reminded me of the hiking trip to Yosemite I took when I was a kid. The air was colder and cleaner, lush plants that I had never seen before grew everywhere! There was also this exotic feel to the forest, like the small details of the leaves and bark that said 'this is not the Earth.' My friends let me lead the way once I told them I had trail-blazing experience.

"That trip to Yosemite has nothing on this!" I said. The hiking trips I take with my parents are always my favorites. "Dad taught me everything about nature survival, Mom… spa are more her thing."

Manny came up behind me. "Yeah, those lavender soaks aren't so bad!"

"You just like the chocolates they hand out." I said back.

To which Manny shrugged. "82 varieties. It was an education."

"Are you guys really not siblings?" Kat asked, with Kit right behind her taking in the magnificent sight.

Manny explained while I moved some branches out of our way. "Call us a clan. Angel and go way back, and so do our parents. The two of us have been thicker than thieves even after-"

"Look!" I pointed up ahead. There was a river! "I'll bet that lead right to the falls! Let's go!" I took off running. From the sounds behind me the others were close behind. But the farthest voice, Kit's, called out from behind. "Angel, shouldn't we take it easy? We don't really know this place!"

I think Kat was closest behind me now cause I heard her loud and clear when she called back to him. "Easy? Kit, c'mon this is Perim!"

If their conversation went any farther than that, I didn't hear it. My thoughts were once again swept up in excitement. _This is Perim. So_ anything _can happen here!_ And I already had so many places in mind that I wanted to go. But right now I was already over the moon with the fact that I was here, going to see Cordac Falls as more than just a picture!

Following the river, as much as I love running, even Kat and I had to slow to walk. It gave Manny and Kit time to catch their breath, and time for all four of us to look around the area. It was nice, but even as cliffs to the Falls became closer, Kat let out a groan. "Uuuuuugggghhh! Why weren't we just 'ported' there when we set our scans. It got us close, but when they tell ya 'at the Falls', you'd think they'd mean ' **at** the Falls!'"

Kit pulled out his scanner and said, "Sis, did you ever take a really good look at the card?" Kit held it up for all of us who stopped to see. "Look in the background, there is a wide river and a forest behind it."

"So we're there by technicality." Manny folded his arms like does when he's sarcastic and frustrated. "Not so great for taking pictures, but hey! Let's get a scan of a closer spot when we get there for next time."

"Sounds like the idea to me." Kit agreed.

"It's called a tourist trap." Manny clarified.

 _I don't understand why these guys are complaining. This is a great way to learn about Perim. Sure we're a little ways off, but we're here to see things too!_ "Cordac falls is the objective," I told everyone leading on, "But don't forget to look around, guys! I mean, this place is amazing! I wouldn't have wanted to start anywhere else!"

* * *

 **? POV (A/N: I do that sometimes)**

Maxxor ordered me to scout Cordac Falls. Underworlders and Danians still try to climb up from time to time. He knows I can see far with nothing escaping my sight. Owis suffered an injury and had to be healed; he is a noble warrior for guarding this place for so long, I do not mind taking the deed. It had been fairly quiet. For many years, things have been relatively quiet all over Perim. The tribes still war, even a few M'arillians some their unwelcomed faces and a quickly beaten back. But there's hardly any commotion since all the humans disappeared.

Those pests! Granted, some of them had their uses. And… more than a few of those were close friends to other Creatures. They came, matured into adulthood, and then, suddenly they all vanished. The response from the tribes was mixed. But no denying it gave birth to a still-going 30 solons of peace.

Or… as close as Perim may see as peace for an extended time. And I should not blame humans alone for calamity, the other tribes also-

"Now what?!" From below my position on the rocks I hear a voice. Unfamiliar, young, angry and female. "We have to climb?"

Young Overworlders do not come to this Location and not know what to expect. Could some Mipedian children have gotten this far? Prince Mudeenu must be trying to train his spies to be even younger! The audacity of those cold-blooded lizards…

I feel a second of conflict, but children or not, these spies should learn what it means to be enemy territory. I ready my bow; I can see them from the rocks before they see me from here. I peer out.

"What…?" Those- Those children are…!

* * *

 **Angel's POV**

"Like it or not boys, we're racing!" I call back to Kit and Manny. Kat and I are well ahead on the cliffside. This place is relatively easy to climb, it's just that everyone's getting a little tired. And I use that to my advantage to be the first one up. "Just remember! Hand-hand and foot-foot when climbing!"

I looked back to see that everyone was heeding my advice. Manny was actually neck-in-neck with Kat, and the only reason she was slowing down was to make sure that her brother, who looked terrified, was okay. I went back to concentrating on my own climb. I just snuck a look at the view around me when I'd stop and wait a few seconds for everyone. _Livin' the dream!_

Finally, after a little longer climbing, my hand finds a wide spread of solid rock, telling me that we've made it. I breath a bit, just taking everything in.

I'm in Perim.

I've climbed a mountain side.

And I am _standing on_ THE Cordac Falls!

Shifting my body so that it takes the lasts steps carefully, I stand up on the ledge and overlook the forest we just walked out of. On the card, there's just a little bit of it with some mountains and sky. But here! Here the greenery stretches on for miles, the mountain range goes even farther and I can visibly see the water moving beneath the sun and hear the roar of the falls! Speaking of which!

"Guys hurry, you gotta see this!" Cause I'm already seeing it and I still can't believe it. Cordac Fall is a waterfall of two channels coming out of a face that seems to be carved into the side. It falls far. So far that as I gaze over the edge just to see it for myself, I can see the water falling down into a shining red pit of lava! This is also my first view of the Underworld…

One by one the others follow and gaze around in amusement along with me. Manny says, "This is…"

And Kat finishes, "Unreal…"

Kit's the first one to pull his scanner out. "I'm making my first scan of here!"

"Yeah!" I suddenly remembered that and took out my own scanner. "Uh… how does that work?" It's a good thing Kit and Kat's dad apparently gave them such thorough descriptions of this place. _So backpacks count as clothing, card scans are wild cards, and once you get to a certain spot at a Location you can scan it and come back to that exact spot later._ Once all four of us had our own Location scan of Cordac Falls, Kat started looking around.

"Is that it?" She asked.

"What? Long hike through uncharted terrain aren't enough for ya, Kat?" Manny said.

She retorted. "Hey, I liked seeing the place, but didn't you guys notice anything?"

Kit was the first to realize. Since he was right next to me, he grabbed onto my shoulder. "She's right! Look around, we're the only ones here."

"Didn't I just say that?" Manny responded.

I realized it too. And when I did, I explained it to Manny. "Creatures, Manny! We just trekked through a forest and up to one of the most frequent battle locations in Perim. We haven't even seen any other humans here, it's like the Falls are deserted."

Cordac Falls is _not_ a tourist trap place. Even if no one has been here in years, there are plenty of stories of battles taking place at Cordac Falls. It's a direct route to and from the Overworld! If anyone can survive it. It's well-known to always be guard it both above and below by the respective tribes. If a deadly fall doesn't kill you, there's always a Creature waiting to do the job. Yet, why have we four little humans come up here with such ease?

"Maybe they're on vacation?" Manny suggested. I rolled my eyes, Kat hit her palm to her face and Kit just shook his head in disapproval. "Oh great, now there's a limit on jokes."

"Yeah, you can only say the funny ones." Kat told him.

This was still a fun trip for us. We did get to see Perim. "Manny, this was just a beginner's trip for us." I reminded him, standing next to my best friend. "Next time we'll try a more high traffic area like a city or-"

The next thing we heard was a strange noise of something coming in close. But it wasn't coming from the direction of the forest, it was coming from inside the falls! Like something was rapidly hitting the sides of the rock. At the same time we all rushed over to see what it was, we all either gasped or screamed at what we saw! I think we all knew who he was. An Underworld spy, and one with a nasty reputation. Eight legs, eight eyes, sharp teeth and a menacing hiss; his name is Spyder.

And that Creature did not even stop as he snarled, "I see you, **_Overworlders_**!"

We all screamed! Chaotic may have been down for almost two decades, but this guy's rep is nothing to but frightening! Running away from the inside ledge, we realize that there's not enough space for us to outrun an eight-legged monster. As Kit so pointed out, "We're trapped!" If Spyder had mistaken us for Overworlders, then no question: We are dead!

"This way!" I point out to the side. "We'll have to run along the cliff!" At least that way we can avoid him.

"Out of the way!" A blur of white zipped between me and the group. "You're not getting into the Overworld today Spyder!" This Creature stood on two… legs, like a person. Had the head of a bird and was wear a dark green tunic, and wielding a bow and arrows. This was another known creature, and another with a not-so-friendly relations to humans. His name is Frafdo. He's not evil like Spyder, but according to Dad, he's not someone you want to run into twice.

"You're not getting into the Overworld today or _any_ day, Spyder!" Frafdo flies into the air, aiming over the edge with his arrows. He fired two, it sounded like they hit. Spyder fires back with some kind of web at him which Frafdo dodges and shoots another arrow.

Spyder called back, "Toxic Gust!" And blast of green air hit Frafdo square in the chest. I look and see that the others are just as frozen in fear as I am. What are we supposed to do? Run? With these two going at its more likely the debris falling off the Falls will do us in before we reach the bottom than not. And if Frafdo loses…

"He's hurt, we have to help!" I say.

"How?" Kit asks, "I don't know about you, but I think this is where the _scanner_ option comes into play."

Kat, Manny and I all get the same we-are-dumb looks on our faces. In all the excitement, I guess we forgot we could just teleport back with the press of a button. We all got our scanners out to go.

"Uuuuuhhh…." From behind us on the ground, Frafdo groaned.  
I paused before my finger touched my scanner. If I left now, what would be Frafdo's guarantee of getting out of this? True, his purpose may not have been to directly save us. But all the same, what he was doing kept us from be hurt. What would that say about me if I turned my back on someone who I could have helped?

I shoved my scanner back into my pocket and ran over to Frafdo. "Can you get up?" I quickly asked from behind him.

Frafdo glared up at me. "I never asked for your help!"

 _Grouchy!_ "That doesn't mean you couldn't use it!" I protested. I looked over my shoulder as I helped the angry avian to get back on his feet, but the others were gone. _I guess they ported back already._ Frafdo once more took out his bow and began firing down into the canyon. "Plasm arrow!" He shouted sending the attack right into Spyder's face. It knocked the Underworlder down a bit, but he still clung to the wall.

 _I said I would help and I will._ I looked around for something to use. Frafdo is a trained warrior so there's no way a Chaotic-newbie like me can do anything like actually attack. _I gotta keep my head focused and my eyes open. There's got something here I- yes!_ The side of Cordac Falls has loose rocks. Sure, that's primitive and mediocre to say the least. It'll work though. I go over to side, out of Frafdo's way. A lot of the rocks can easily fit in my hand, but they won't do much to make Spyder fall back into the Underworld. I just need ones that can endure several hits over and over again. Moving fast, I find about seven rocks that I need and carry them in my open pack back over to where Frafdo is fighting.

I can't distract him while he's fighting. That would give Spyder an opening or make him realize it's two against one up here. So I pear over the side, hoping it's not too much of me that's seen. Spyder isn't quite in the right place, but hopefully as he gets higher, he'll move closer. There's a giant crack on the inside of the falls, I start pounding away at it using the rocks I carried. I have to lift them high up in order to make an impact. Once this falls on top of Spyder, it will hopefully be enough to send him tumbling. _Not the highest guarantee of success, but's about all I can do at this point._ I hit the crack over and over again. Spyder is moving closer, I can't tell if Frafdo is making him move that way or not. _I really need to pray for luck on this one._ The Falls are too loud for me to call up for help from him. "C'mon! C'mon…!"

Spyder's menacing hisses sound closer than ever! Raising the rock over my head I slam it down with everything I've got! A loud cracking alerts me that a huge chunk of the cliff has been broken… under me! I see the stone in front of me begin falling down, and I feel the ground under me preparing to go with it! I try to reach for my quick escape: my scanner. But the ground falls before I can get it!

"Aaaaaahhhh!" My screams are accompanied by that of Spyder's, who I see has indeed been hit and falling into the chasm of the falls. And I have the best view because _I'm_ the one falling in after him! _I didn't want this kind of a view of the Falls!_

"Vine Snare!" bellows over my screams. Suddenly I have green vines suspending me by my arms and shoulders, watching the Underworld spy fall helplessly down to where he came from. I'm held there for a few seconds. Just breathing. Just grateful that I'm not the one tumbling down to what's practically the center of Perim. I then look up to see that the vines are coming out of Frafdo's claw and they're pulling me back up.

Once I'm back in the sunlight, however, Frafdo continues using his vines to keep me suspended in the air. This time in front of his bird-like face. _I think my last view was less scary._ I can't tell if he's angry at me or if that's just the way his face looks. I let out a nervous laugh and say, "Heh, thanks for saving me."

He doesn't say anything.

 _Is this an interrogation or something? Is he going to drop me?_ "Um…" I really don't know what he's going to do. "Frafdo?" So I ask. "Are you going to put me down?"

"So you know my name." He states. "You came here from Chaotic. Are there others like you?"

 _It is an interrogation._ I don't know what I did wrong, but it can't hurt to answer him. "Well… sure. I can't say how many. You've caught a newbie on her first day in-"

"Chaotic." He finishes. "Why are you humans returning now?"

I answer his question with a question. Honestly, he's starting to seem really rude and that irritates me. "Do you know why the humans _left_? Cause that's a mystery to all of us too." I see what might be an eyebrow raise on Frafdo's face. _Okay, so his face can change._ "Do you have any other questions?" I say to him. "Cause for every one you have, I think I have at least a dozen more."

"Then just answer one more." He said. Frafdo then, rather gently, placed me down on the ground. The vines slithered back and vanished into his clawed hand. "Who are you, and why did you try to help me?"

That was two questions. Though I have not right to chide. "Well, I helped you because I could." I tell him. "Truth: you're the first one I've helped who isn't a human. But I was here, I saw a way I could help someone and… I just did. Just panicking and leaving while someone else gets hurt isn't exactly a commendable action. Not to me. I was raised that way. Plus, you did save me and my friends from Spyder attacking us. One good turn deserves another."

Frafdo looked down at me as he pondered my words. _Guess he isn't very trusting._ Can't blame him though. Humans have been gone for this world for a long, long time. Too see for kids just out in the middle of nowhere must really surprising for someone. "Can you…understand that?" I ask.

Frafdo crossed his arms. Again, I couldn't read what he felt. "Somewhat." _Wait. Was that a smile?_ "You didn't answer the first part of the question, child. What is your name?"

"I'm Angel." I told him with a smile. "Angel Majors."

* * *

 **Chaotic... Angel's POV**

Porting back to Chaotic, I looked around for the Manny, Kat and Kit. The found me before I found them!

"Oh my gosh!" Kit was the first to reach me. Hugging me around the arms he began asking in a panic. "Are you alright? Why didn't you port back? Did you get hurt? Which one of them won? Do you know how worried we've been!?"

I patted him on the back. "Kit, chill! You sound like my mom." After he let go, Kit stood between Manny and Kat. "If you guys wanted to know I was okay, why didn't any of you port back?"

"We wanted to!" Manny said, looking ashamed. "But… That really caught us off-guard, Angel. And the shops here don't offer any kind of weapon or shields, or nothing." Something told me he had probably checked that too. "Ange, we're really sorry."

"We also figured you wanted to help Hawk Hood." Kat added in. " So if he just appeared at the wrong time you coulda bee in even more danger if we messed something up."

Kit folded his arms and sent a mad look at his sister. "You know you only _sound_ right because that's what I told you, right?" Kat nudged him and Kit looked honestly regretful at me. "I'm sorry to, Angel. I just… All we have of that place is old bedtime stories. We kinda thought it would be like our parents' advetures. The kind where…"

Kit was rubbing his elbow. Manny and Kat likewise were at a loss for words. And I think I understood where they were coming from. "Where in the fairytale land there's no chance you can ever get hurt or feel pain." I said. I wasn't mad at them. Not one bit. "Kat, Manny, Kit." I spread out my arms and got them all into a hug somehow. "I'm not mad at you guys. Frafdo won the fight, and he let me go back after he talked to me. That was actually pretty cool! Just next time: All for one and one for all, okay?"

They all responded in agreement. Chaotic is real. That means the danger is real too. It's not like me to back out of a game. Not out of pride, but for a love of adventures that just seems to run in my blood. Walking back with my still-friends to the food court, Kat manage to put her arm around me so she could ask, "So… What did you and the flying Overworlder talk about?"

I responded with a shrug. "Not much really. He wanted to know who I was, why I had helped him and why humans suddenly appeared again. I couldn't answer much on the last one. Frafdo _did_ tell me that it's been about 30 solons since he saw a human. How long is that in Earth years again?"

"Half the number." Kat said without missing a beat. "Around 30 for them is around 15 for us."

I looked down at my scanner. I didn't get a scan of Frafdo. He's a grump, but not a bad guy. And it didn't feel right to just scan him without permission somehow. _Maybe if I run into him I can ask._ He had asked me some odd questions, and I wasn't able to read him at all. He didn't hurt me, but his behavior was pretty hostile. More than I had expected it to be. He might have just been protective since a bunch of humns showed up out of nowhere. But hey! I survived my first meeting with an Overworld Creature. He was tough, and not all that friendly. There's nothing really I can do about that though.

For now, I really want a cheeseburger and soda!

* * *

 **Later that night in Kiru City…**

Frafdo walked carefully into the deserted Council room. This meeting had to be kept a secret. He sent the message immediately after the girl waved good-bye and ported back to Chaotic. Frafdo received a response and came to Kiru City once Owis returned to guard Cordac Falls again.

"It's unlike you to ask for a secret meeting, Frafdo." said a deep voice from the shadows. "I can assume that this is an urgent matter." The voice belonged to none other than the leader of the whole Overworld Tribe. Maxxor appeared in the light facing Frafdo. The Overworlder bowed to his king, then began to explain.

"Yes, Maxxor. While I was watching over Cordac Falls on my assignment, Spyder tried to make a break to sneak in."

At this Maxxor sighed. "I know he has other ways of getting into our territory. Word of Owis being injured must have made it to the Underworld. Do you suppose there is more to this attack?" Maxxor wouldn't put it past Chaor to humiliate him by sending a platoon of warriors through one of the most safe-guarded locations he ruled over.

"No. Nothing more than an ego-play on Spyder's part, I believe." Frafdo then looked directly into the leader's eyes as he explained the next part. "I received help in defeating Spyder by…" Frafdo wasn't sure how to present this information. He would have to be careful.

Maxxor grew suspicious at Frafdo's pause. "By who?" he asked.

"By… children, mistaken for Overworlders." Though how Spyder mistook them, Frafdo couldn't understand.

"Mistaken?" Maxxor repeated. "Are you saying that _Mipedians_ snuck that far into our lands?" Mipedian relations with Maxxor's tribe weren't any easier than they were before. Maxxor knew that some Overworlders were friends with Mipedians from the M'arillian Invasion years ago, but if a group of young ones got as far as Cordac Falls, Maxxor would have to order them to be hunted.

"No, sire!" Frafdo quickly stopped him. "Not Creature-children. Humans! Chaotic Players are returning to Perim!"

Maxxor barely seemed to react outwardly. He had received other reports like this from Intress, Antidaeon, Lystone and even Najarin. Maxxor was greatly surprised and disturbed by this. He was also somewhat happy. There good humans as well as bad, and those who tended to favor his tribe where mostly good. Maxxor still remembered that even he had a friend among the Humans years ago… Calmly, he assured Frafdo, "I am aware of the Humans' Return." He said. "They are mostly children, like the ones you have seen. But they have caused us no trouble, so there is no reason in deeming them a threat."

Frafdo still had more to say. He felt like his leader should know the next part. "But there is something particular about the human who…" the proud Creature hated to say this, "saved me." Even Maxxor did a double-take at these words. Frafdo was a respected and able warrior, above all he was a very proud Overworlder. For him to say that his life was saved by someone else was unheard of! "While three of the four humans fled, one stayed behind and aided me in Spyder's downfall."

"How?" Maxxor asked. Curious as to what a human could do that Frafdo couldn't.

"She gathered stones from the mountainside and used them to break off a piece of the cliff to knock Spyder back down. She said that she refused to abandon another while she had the ability to assist them." That explained, to Maxxor at least, why Frafdo was admitting to have been saved. Proud as he was, Frafdo did highly value honor and integrity like all Overworlders did. This child must have deserved the credit for this Overworlder to admit it.

Maxxor smiled at his friend. "Then it appears you have a new ally, Frafdo." He said this, knowing Frafdo had never really been too fond of humans in the past.

"There is more, Maxxor." Frafdo continued. He knew he should get to the point now, this conversation was going too long. "The child gave me her name afterwards. It's…. She is…"

Aggitation was becoming slightly visible on Maxxor's face. Then Frafdo finally said, "She bears the name of Majors. As in-"

"Tom…" Shock, fear and bewilderment washed over Maxxor's green, tattooed face. Could the child Frafdo saw really be….? Maxxor demanded, right then and there that Frafdo give him a full, detailed report of what happened.

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ **Well, hopefully that cleared some things up.**

 **In the original series, Tom helped a Creature too. I thought it'd be fun if his daughter helped save (whether Frafdo likes it or not) someone her father met.**

 **The tribal Leaders will be coming in later. And there will be some changing plots, like in the show... but of course there is a master plan... :) Be ready!**

 **And leave a review of your thoughts!**


	6. Princes and Vagabonds

**Not a lot of reviews, but plenty of Favorites and Follows! So thanks! But reviews would be appreciated more. (And possibly bring new chapter quicker)**

 **Another Two-parter!**

 **Princes and Vagabonds**

* * *

 **Angel's POV**

The golden deserts of the Mipedian Tribe are said to hold many secrets and wonders as they do grains of sand. With the sun of Perim constantly shining down on these noble grounds, you would think nothing could stay in hiding around here. But when your friend drags you in there, the greatest mystery you ask is "How can anyone stand this much heat?"

"Reptiles, mi amiga, reptiles!" Manny calls back to me. He's been excited about seeing where the Mipedians live. We got a taste of the Overworld on our last venture, so Manny decided next he wanted to go with me to Mipedian territory. That was two days ago, during which we'd been learning the ins and outs of Chaotic from other players. Manny had been collecting intel about the Mipedian desert all that time. He was too excited for me to say no to going along. "But be wary, my young padawan: These dudes have the power to disappear and reappear before your very eyes!"

 _Then how are we supposed to find them?_ To not diminish his hopes, I asked Manny, "How do they do that anyway?"

"Some kind of special cactus they eat that grows out here. Dad said it was called something like-" Before Manny could finish, I grabbed his arm forcing him to stop.

"Wait a second!" I said. "Your _dad?_ "

To which Manny laughed. "Yeah, Dad! You know that big, chubby guy who's usually there for our birthdays, Christmas, and occasional dinner?"

That's how Mr. Rosen's schedule really is. He's hardly ever home to take care of his son, but I didn't grow up with only-child syndrome because of it. _Manny's own words._ "But he's on tour!"

Manny looked at me mock-smug, "It's called a cellular telephone, Angelina. You should get one."

"Ha, ha." Then I asked. "So your Dad was the Chaotic Player in your family?"

We continued walking as we talked. "Yep. Until I hear back from Mom. Actually when I told Dad about it he got supper excited! He even did his trademark rock-star yell! Then he went on a total (judge not!) fan-boy rant about the old days and how it was the most awesome part of his life. Well, before his music took off. But when he asked if I'd met any of his old Mipedian buddies, he recited the directions to the oasis from memory! So now we…. Angel?"

I guess I must have been looking down as I followed him along. I really like Manny's dad, he's been like an uncle to me. A crazy uncle, granted. But first and foremost he's Manny's father and the two are close despite him being frequently away even during his custody of Manny. Even now they can talk to each other and share what he knows about his favorite parts of Perim with Manny. Me? Mom doesn't know about it and Dad…

"Angel? Ange…? Angelina May-jors? Hello?" Manny snaps his finger in front of my face. Effectively ending my train of thought. "Listen, we aren't that far. All of the players I talked to said that the Mipedians are cool with us walking around their city. As long as we stay out of the Royal Casa they won't try to code us."

What am I thinking when I'm out having fun with Manny? I shouldn't be depressed! In fact I should be on equal levels of excitement with him. We're going to an actual Perim city this time, and it sounds like we might get a few decent scans in this time. "Right!" I say to him lifting my head. "I want to look around again, but I also know we need the scans to play in Chaotic."

"Now that's more like it!" Manny pumped his fist forward. "Step one: scoping out. I'll give ya step two once we get there." Manny says odd thing at random moments. I'm pretty used to it.

After a good, long walk we finally make it. And the city was worth every step to see! The buildings are all the color of sand, but they are all crafted and hardened into round structures either making homes or shops. There are even tall gecko and lizard like Creatures walking around, some even talking to humans who they seem to be showing around. _Man, they're a lot friendlier than Frafdo._ Maybe this will go better for us?

"Whao-ho-ho!" Manny laughed. "Total one-eighty from last time, huh Angel?" He had just read my mind.

"Yeah, let's go in!"

Honestly, I would have thought that we would need to watch our steps and not be seen while we were here. I was told that the Mipedian tribe had a lot of secrets, and they tend to be highly protective about them. _And I love secrets!_ What Manny and I agree on: secrets are friends you just haven't met yet! _Manny's thoughts are crazy even when I think of them…_ Yet there isn't anyone I'd rather have as a travel partner!

As we walked about like tourists, gazing at the buildings and some of the shops had weird kinds of foods and oddities (they all had odd names), I heard something that sounded like… music! It sounded like it was coming from an alley not far over from where Manny was talking to another Chaotic Player. The singing wasn't even louder than it was on the sandy street, still I somehow caught the melody and listened to the words as I wandered closer to the sound.

"…sunset on the desert sky~.

An oasis under a crown of stars,

Will make a home to this love of ours."

The singing was coming from what looked like the opened door to a dressing room, like the kind performers get ready in. Inside, singing the beautiful song, was a female Mipedian. I didn't have a card of her, but she was really pretty. She had green skin and green hair too. It looked like she was wearing the clothes of an ancient Egyptian, complete with a small golden headdress. She looked so peaceful and serene while she was singing that I stayed by the open door until she finished her song.

When she finished, she sat down on a stool with her back towards me. "I know you are there." She said in sweet, calm voice. I almost didn't register that she had caught me staring. "Please, come in young human. Did you like the song?"

She didn't seem mad, but all the same I was shy about being invited in. "I… Yes! I thought your song was beautiful! Um… how did you know I was there?" At school, I can usually sneak around with any teachers catching me, even Mom can't find me if I'm really working at it.

At my question, the female Mipedian turned towards me and lightly laughed, even her laugh was musical. "I have the training of a Stalker, young one. I could tell you were there when I saw your shadow from around the corner."

"Oh." Yeah, I should have come in at another direction. "That makes sense. My name is Angel by the way."

"I am called Ebberim." She said, "I was practicing my song for the Lizard Lounge tonight."

I asked her. "What's the Lizard Lounge?"

Again she let out a short laugh, it wasn't a mean laugh. "Don't you know where you have snuck in to? I left the door open to let in some air. I didn't think my song would disturb anyone with the street being so lively."

"I actually almost did miss it." I said to her. "But I could make out the melody from where I was standing, and I followed that until I ended up here. Sorry if I bothered you."

"Oh, not at all… Angel." She tried my name on her tongue. _Guess it is a pretty odd name for around here._ "I like that name. It sounds… sweet."

I think I might have blushed all the way up to my ears. It was so nice of her to compliment me like that! "I…Thank you, Ebberim. Yours is really nice to say too! Wait, if you're a Mipedian Stalker, shouldn't you be…?" How do I ask this one?

"Out training or on duty?" She guessed with a smile. "Well, things have been relatively calm, and I can be called back if a mission requires me." She sighed, "I admit my best talent is not in spying. Perhaps that is why the academy let me go without much hassle." Then her voice perked back up. "But in truth, it also leaves me free to pursue where I do have talent: in song!"

"I believe it!" I had started feeling bad after I asked her, Ebberim was such a kind person… or reptile…or… I'll just stick with Mipedian. "I didn't grow up with much music in my house, but I used to sing a few songs when I was by myself."

"What do humans sing?" Ebberim asked. "Please forgive my curiosity."

"Oh, it's fine!" I told her. "They would be songs I heard in shows or over the radio. But I haven't really done much with playing music in a long time."

Ebberim seemed to get an idea. She reached behind her and pulled out what looked like a small harp. "This is a lyre." She told me. "If you would you like to try playing it?"

I meant it when I said I haven't touched on anything musical for a while. I was a little afraid of the lyre when Ebberim just handed it to me. My mom's sister used to have a harp that she taught me a little about playing, but this…

"It's alright." Ebberim assured me. "Try plucking each string until you recognize the notes. This lyre is special, it will help you play if you remember the song."

Really wanting to try I did as Ebberim asked. I plucked the strings from high to low and back again. Then I remembered a song, and little by little I began to play it on the little, golden lyre.

* * *

 **Back with Manny…**

"So the guards are keeping the palace water tight! You either gotta have a friend on the inside or already have a sweet scan of it." This one player, FireFelix, was really chattin it up with me 'bout how to get into the Royal Mipedian Casa. _I wanna go BIG on this quest._ But it sounds like no one's found a way in yet. The Mipedians are keeping their Royals under safe guard since humans came around. _So it's gonna be me on this epic quest with my loyal, spunky side-kick-_

"Angel?" I turned around and she was gone! "Angel!" I called out. _Aw, c'mon Ange! I didn't mean that 'side-kick' stuff!_ She must have seen something she liked and walked off. She couldn't have gone far so I start looking around.

That's when a huge, orange, claw grabs me from behind. "Ah!" _Kidnapper! Is this why Angel went_ missing?"Peyton?" A throaty voice says from behind. That's when I realize that the clawed hand hadn't actually grabbed, more like stopped me by getting at my shoulder. _And why did this dude just say my Dad's name?_ I should probably turn around and find out.

Turns out I know this guy! His card anyway. It's Ghatup, a well-known Mipedian scout. "Peyton…!"he gasps, seizing both my shoulders! "It is you. But how? You look just like when I first met you."

"Whoa! Whoa!" I say backing up from this guy. I like my person space thank you very much. Exceptions only for hugs from very close friends. "Back up there a bit, dude. The name's Manny."

"Oh, I see…" Dude sounds down. "I'm sorry, I mistook you for-"

"My dad." I tell him.

He looks back up, surprised. "What?"

I explain. "Peyton aka PeytonicMaster of thirty human years ago is my dad!"

That seems to have brought back his happy. "Then it is a pleasure to meet you, Manny son of Peyton." Ghatup took me out of the street and to a tent where we could talk in the shade. Dad had actually mentioned him when I called him and told him about the code.

"Manny," Ghatup got right to the point of his talk as he handed me a clay cup of water. "I must know, did your father ever tell you why the humans left Chaotic? Can you tell me why you have all decided to return?"

I took a drink and explained. "Sorry, bro but Dad didn't say why he stopped comin'. But he was totally psyched for me when he found out I had been given my own code! He said being in Perim had been the best time of his life, some of his best songs are even about it. And believe me, it's a mystery to us as much as you guys to why Chaotic is suddenly lettin' kids back in again."

I feel like I owe this guy. Dad's psyching had even given me a list of Creatures Who Are Cool to Know. Ghatup was one of them. When I told the guy that, he smiled big time. "It's good to know that my friend hasn't forgotten me." He said, looking down at his own water. _Man… guy looks a bit bumbed._ "Peyton was a very unique human. Not just in the way he spoke, but in the way he acted. He could be very… spontaneous, but never unkind to anyone. No one could hate him."

"That's sounds like Dad alright!" How awesome is it that I find an old friend of Dad's on the first day! I wish I could send him a text right now or something. Man, I wish I had more time to talk to Ghatup. "But I was kind of wondering something…"

* * *

 **Going back to Angel...**

"Why, Angel," Ebberim applauded as I finished the song. "If I hadn't brought it myself, I would have thought you had played the lyre your entire life!"

I was getting along so well with her! Ebberim is so nice and talented. She's calm whenever she talks to me, and from what she's told me she really does enjoy singing, thought she is a fighter. But she's mostly a stalker out of requirement to her Tribe. She just feels she can add more to the Mipedian Tribe through her singing. Ebberim sees the tired, weary and desolate warriors who come to the Lounge are revitalized by the music, and it makes her feel like she helping a greater number of her people. Maybe even keep reminding them that there is more to life than war.

"Well, there is an instrument similar to this where I came from. They're both really hard to play." I told her, I was feeling a little bashful that she had complimented me. "It means a lot to hear someone likes what I play."

Ebberim then stood up and took my hand. "Now, my new friend, why don't we go for a walk? This is your first day in Mipedian territory after all!"

It was really cool to get a tour of all the tents by Ebberim. A lot of other Mipedians seemed to know her as she would always be waving or saying hello when we walked by. "This is… different than what I would have expected." I admitted when we stopped for some water.

"Really?" she asked. "Tell me then, what did you expect?"

I remembered to be polite and to be honest. "I only knew about Perim because my dad came here when he was a kid. But he was an Overworld player so he didn't spend all that time around Mipedians. I heard from other players the Mipedians are also supposed to be very secretive, so all this: an open market and even finding such a good friend on my first day… This… This is a whole new picture of Perim for me!"

Looking down at me with a gentle smile, Ebberim said. "In my own experience, I have never met a human quite like you, young Angel. As a Stalker I say humans and briefly interacted with a few. But none, have I known to share a love of music or be so open with.

"And as for the secretive part: yes, there are some things I cannot tell even my friends. But I will tell you in short." Ebberim looked around carefully and then leaned into my ear to whisper, "All of our most carefully guarded secrets are locked away in the Royal Stronghold."

Looking around to see that no one was staring at us I whispered back, "The most heavily guarded structure in the territory?"

Straightening back up, Ebberim said in her normal voice. "That is correct. Humans cannot get in even with a frie-"

All at once, the ground felt like it was rumbling! It surprised both of us enough to drop the water cups out of our hands. A gruff male voice called out, "Move out of the way!" And of course I just had to see what was going on. I jumped out of my seat and ran to the edge of the road to see what was going on. A big group of armored Mipedians were running up our directions, carrying a large armored crate, the size of about four of them.

Everyone was waiting until the last second to move out of the rapidly approaching guards. I guess because they were all curious about what was inside that crate they were carrying. But I was to lost in thought that I didn't notice how close the guards were until they were just a foot away from me.

* * *

 **Manny's POV**

Ghatup heard from Sobtjek, who heard from Ario, who heard from Zhade, who heard from another dude that he saw a human who looked like Angel walking around with Ebberim, a songstress of the Lizard Lounge. _Man, Angel's making friends left and right around here._ Back on Earth it's always been just the two of us outcasts for lovin' Chaotic. Sure, we had started off the Chaotic Club to be just our own thing, but when a few other kids heard about it they came in to play. Most of the members had actually been brought in by Angel herself, and she kept the club organized. I know that she's not 'unsocial', Angel's just got a sense for good people and she likes hangin' with people she can trust. _Yours truly being her numero one-o!_

Digress back to the search! We heard they were walking towards a restaurant-like tent so Ghatup led the way. On the way though, just about every Mipedian stopped us to ask about me! They kept saying how I was like a carbon copy of my dad, and they even shared a few brief times they had with him before we moved on. Hey, I even got my full five scans on the way over! "Boy, is Angel gonna be jealous when I show all the boss scans I got today!"

Ghatup laughed. "I would no qualms of the girl having a scan of me when we meet her."

"Generous offer, bro!" I told him. "Angel's got a few card scans of Mipedians, but her hand-me-down deck is mostly Overworld. It'd be good for her to know what she's been missing out on." Dude agreed with that one.

We were just a few tents away from where angel was supposed to be, when an earthquake suddenly struck. "Get back! Move out of the way!" The earthquake was actually a bunch of palace guards running down the street with a huge metal box. Ghatup pushed me out of their way in time to avoid being roadkill. Then, just down the road I saw Angel!

Then, the second the guards passed in a cloud of smoke, she was gone!

"Angel!" I called out as I ran over. She could have just fallen back into the tent, but it sure didn't look like it from my angle!

Before I even got there another worried voice called out, "Angel!?" Running out of the tent flaps was a green Mipedian dressed like Cleopatra. She looked up and down the street, until Ghatup and I came over.

"Ebberim, what happened?" Ghatup asked, worriedly

Fear in her voice, Ebberim said, "Angel came out to see what was happening. She was in my sight until the guards came running past, and then she was gone! It looked like she fell, but now-!"

We all looked after the disappearing cloud of sand-dust that was the guards heading down to the palace. "Aw, man!" I (whaled) out. "Angel just got trampled by-"

"Wait!" Ghatup held up a claw to stop me. He kneeled down and began brushing away some disturbed sand. "Is this?" He picked up a purple Scanner.

"That's Angel's!" I declared, recognizing it. "That's means she's okay if her scanner is still here! Phew…" For a second there I thought I had lost my best friend.

"I'm afraid that your friend is most certainly not okay." Ebberim said, her voice dripping in worry. "Angel must be with those guards heading towards the Royal's Fortress. If she is discovered inside there…"

"She's toast…!" I gasped. "Or code, I guess."

This may not have been how I planned Step 2 of Awesomest Day in Mipedian Territory. But Angel _is_ getting into the Royal Fortress. _Now the next step is figuring out how to save her._

* * *

 **A/N: It's bad news to be stuck in an inescapable fortress without your quick escape. Maybe you can guess who Angel will meet, but remeber: there are _two_ Creature with the title of Prince in the Mipedians.**

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 **Review and you'll see what happens next!**


	7. Princes and Vagabonds Pt 2

**Huzzah, to the new reviewers!**

 **As promised, the new chapter!**

 **Princes and Vagabonds Part 2:**

* * *

 **Angel's POV...**

When the guards had come charging up to me, my mind almost blanked for a second!

Then the thought: _Get away!_

I just reacted when I left my body be shoved down by the guard pushing past, and a rolled _forward,_ then grabbed onto the bottom of the crate they were carrying!

Now I'm holding on for dear life going who-knows-where with a bunch of unstoppable guards! The crate has some kind of a design on it that allows me to hang onto the bottom even on a bumpy ride like this. _Oh geez, where are they taking me?_ My gut is telling me that it's not a place I'm supposed to be. And there's one place distinctly in my mind where I shouldn't be close by!

I can see the guards' shadows as we speed down the dusty road. I have to look from the side or some of the dirt gets kicked up into my face. Too busy trying to hold on, I didn't keep track of how much time had passed. Just that after a good while, the bumping started to become even, and the pace of the guards was slowing too. I peeked out of one eye to try and guess where we were. There seemed to be a larger, straight-lined shadow cutting off some of the guards'. It looked like a wall. _Oh, no…_ That big of a wall could only be for protecting something. I really didn't want my suspicions to be right.

The crate and its carriers came to a stop completely covered by the wall's shadow. I breathed slowly, and I lifted myself up against the crate as closely as I could. Now was not the time to let go. I don't know what could happen if I was caught outside the Mipedian Royal Fortress, and I can't reach my scanner while in this position. I'll just have to wait until I'm inside and they put this mysterious crate down. _Thank goodness for there being some support bars on the bottom of this thing!_ They were just big enough that they would keep me from being crushed once the crate was set down.

I listened as larger footsteps came to the front of the company, and a deep, threatening, angry voice spoke to one of the guards. "This Battle Gear was due over an hour ago, Maliph!"

"Forgive me, Prince Mudeenu!" Maliph answered. "We were significantly slowed down in the market district. The number of humans has increased!"

"Wretched beings!" Mudeenu spat in disgust. "They were a menace before the Invasion and their kind is a menace to the Mipedians again. Ha… Take that into the vault. Lock it in, and I will inspect its contents personally once I finish with my rounds." At Mudeenu's command, the crate, and me, were taken inside.

Even from the bottom of a metal box that had been out in the desert sun, it was significantly cooler inside the royal Fortress. The guards marched at a steadied pace, none of them saying a word. I've heard of Prince Mudeenu. From all sources, he's the last Mipedian you want catching you. And from what I've just heard he particularly hates humans being in his homelands. _Ebberim and all the other Mipedians seemed happy to have the humans around, though. What's the Prince got against us?_ My next thoughts were on getting out of here. Once this crate was in the vault, I could let go and port out of here. Easy! Then I could call Manny and tell him what happened, or I could use the scan I got outside of Ebberim's dressing room and look around for him.

I thought of getting a scan once I was inside the vault too, then I thought about the rule of no humans and figured that just this was is enough. _I definitely don't want to run in to Prince Mudeenu. He's one scary guy!_ I heard the sound of some big doors opening and I was moved ahead. Then the crate was set down on a cold, stone floor, and I listened as each guard left and the pair of doors shut. I let out a big breathe of relief as I let my let my whole body flop to the floor. "Time to go!" I couldn't resist crawling out to take a look outside. When would I have another opportunity like this?

Coming out and finally standing on solid ground, I took in my surroundings. The vault was well lit by torches, and there were giant chests and drawers arranged in the massive room. In addition to the crate there was also different kinds of Battle Gear in the room. "These all look brand new!" I immediately wanted to scan something before I left! I reached in my pocket… my scanner wasn't there. I looked in my other pockets, it was gone!

"Oh, no!" I whispered urgently to myself. With my scanner gone I have no way of getting back! I have no way of GETTING OUT! "I'm trapped!" I'm trapped in a tightly locked room of a fortress of human-hating monsters! "Manny…!" I whispered. "I could really use your help right about now!"

I took a second and tried to get myself together. _Panicking will only make this worse. I just need to look around, and see if there is any way out of here._ Manny once told me that the Mipedians are great architects, to the point where pretty much every building they make is full of traps and secret doors. "Maybe there's some other way out of here."

I started looking around the walls, they seemed pretty solid… and high… and too smooth to climb. "Okay, can't expect them to make it easy." I looked low on the floor, and when I started feeling bored I began looking through the drawers. I was still new to Chaotic and hadn't used any kind of Battle Gear, I wanted to know what it felt like to hold some of these weapons in my _own_ hands. Some of the axes weren't too heavy, and some thin bazooka-like Gear was pretty easy to lift. There was also a bunch of look knick-knack Battle Gear in the drawers. Instead of feeling trapped and doomed, I felt more like I was browsing, and actually having fun. I even saw a Flux Babble!

"Wow!" I gasped holding it up. "I don't even have a card of this one." I really wished my scanner wasn't lost. "I could… no, I can't risk a random Location when I still don't have a scanner." It took me until now to realize just how important those little machines are. At home, it's a console that is expensive but can be replaced. Here: it's practically my own life in my hands. It must not be broken since I'm still here in Perim. I can only hope that someone finds it and looks for its owner. _That, and the slim hope I have of getting out here without being coded on sight._ This was not my proudest moment. Feeling tired, both mentally and physically I fell back on a wall between two tall drawer chests.

The second I did, it fell back! "Whaaaaaoooooo!" I cried out as I fell backwards. My fall took be down a dark, carved out slide. I went down for about five seconds until I hit even ground once again. "Oof!" I rubbed my back after collision. "Trapdoor: found!" I checked myself over, making sure I wasn't hurt. "Now where am I?"

As if responding to my question, a trail of torches lit up down a wide hallway. "Huh," I smiled at my turn in luck. "That's helpful." and began walking down the lit path. Then though the ceiling was well above my head, allowing me to walk straight, I started to feel like I was in an ancient tomb or city. Like the kinds people have lost to time and only exist in legend! _Mom was right that I should become an archeologist!_ "This is awesome!" I silently squealed.

As I walked farther down, the walls stopped looking like they were made of brick and started looking smooth and solidly bound. A few feet after, I started seeing small pictures that reminded me of hieroglyphics. "Whoa…" breathed looking at them. The pictures were all depicting Mipedians of course, but they weren't living in a desert. The hieroglyphics showed them living in a lush, tropical forest, where there was plenty of water and the tribe seemed to be without struggle. Then the hallway came to a dead end. But there was a design on that wall too. It almost looked like the Sun, but it was too faded and chipped with time. I know that on Earth our Sun has three layers, and on this one I could make out four. At the center was a broken piece that had been broken off though. I felt the crack in interest, wondering what this was.

Just outside the small broken center, looked to be a hand. _Was there a person… or Creature inside this?_ I went back over the side of the walls to see if maybe I missed a clue about this. My eyes fell on a bright pink image of what looked like a female, Mipedian Warrior. She was standing over a brown whirlpool and… there were two out of place figures behind her. I figured they were Mipedians, but the figures looked so much like humans. I ran my hand over the figure that had a black body and a golden head. "What is this place?" I asked myself in wonder.

"The Hall of Ancestry." A gentle voice came from behind me. Startled, I stood and turned around. Behind me was a Mipedian! But he was very different from any Mipedian I had ever seen. He had lithe, luminescent white figure that seemed to exude as much respect and reverence as it did calmness and collectedness. He wore a gold crown over some white-crown-like spikes and black hair, as well as blue and gold armor. There were two swords at his hips, but he made no move to reach for them.

 _Shoot, I never get caught!_ Was my first thought. It looks like this guy is a noble so he must be loyal to Mudeenu, which means I'm busted. I was truly afraid now, but I just didn't see any point in running. "I-I am sorry." I stuttered out looking at the floor. "I fell in here by accident!"

The white Mipedian responded, "I believe you. After all there is nothing down here that a Chaotic Player would deem worthy of a scan."

Realizing that he was implying to me even being anywhere in the Royal Fortress, my blue eyes shot up to meet his own and I tried to explain. "That was accident too! I mean- Well, the guards were running down the street and I couldn't get out of the way in time so I ducked under the crate and to not get trampled on. But by the time they stopped and I could let go I was already in the vault and…" I slowed, wondering if he would even believe my story. _Even if he does I'm still going to get in trouble._ I looked back down at the floor. "Anyway, I didn't mean to come in here. It was my first day around here and I was enjoying it with my friends." I looked up at him again saying. "I didn't come here meaning to cause any trouble for anyone."

The white Mipedian smiled down at me and then kneeled down to my level. He placed a hand on my shoulder and said. "You do not seem the kind to mean any harm, young one. I believe your story."

I smiled back, relieved that he believed me. Then it fell again, and I asked, "But you still have to turn me over to Prince Mudeenu, don't you?"

He looked surprised. "Mudeenu? Well, he _is_ in charge of enforcing the rules. It is truly a feat, even unintended, that you got by him."

I let out one nervous laugh, "Heh, yeah. He was there to meet the guards actually. All the Mipedians outside here seems to be happy to have humans around, but he basically called us a menace."

"Oh, really?" He raised an eye at that. "Well, I have had no contact with humans until now, but you do not fit the description _the_ Prince has given to me."

I asked, feeling a bit less scared. "What did he tell you?"

"That humans are vile, untrustworthy thieves. They will sneak through any crack of a defense, they will steal even the least valuable of Gear, and they plot against our people with the other Tribes."

At the most audacious, biased and crude description of my people, I laughed! "Hahahaha!" Wiping a tear from my eye, asked back, "Well, some of us can be a pain. But trust me, Mudeenu's description is pretty misleading."

The white Mipedian stood up, still looking at me. Turning his attention to the wall he said, "I know he means well. Mudeenu is looking out for the benefit of our Tribe, yet he forgets the true purpose of the Royal Family." He thoughtfully, reaches over and places a hand on the hieroglyphics.

"Is that what these are drawings of?" I asked.

He responded, "Yes. This one you are looking at is of Ajara and her first discoveries of the loss of water for our tribe. It was said that two strange Creatures aided her upon her first discovery. No one knows what tribe they came from, but I suspect, after seeing you, that perhaps they were Chaotic Players like yourself." A mix of emotions crossed his face as he told me this story. "No one believed Ajara's tale of the land turning to sand beneath out very feet. And because the two mysterious Creatures with her were the only witnesses, it was far too late before our Tribe accepted her words."

 _Maybe that's why Creatures seem to have mixed feelings on humans._ In Ajara's story they did help her find what she was looking for, but when they vanished, they also took her evidence as eye-witnesses to whatever she had found. "I guess… is that why Mudeenu's so anti- human?"

"Human?" he looked at me, confused.

"Oh!" I realized he must not have heard that term very much. "That's what we Chaotic Players are also called. Humans, Earthlings… take your pick. I know what I am either way."

"You say that with such confidence." He remarked.

I said, "Well, it's the truth. Whether I'm called Angelina, Sarah's daughter, Manny's friend, PerimPride, Chaotic Player, or Angel, _I_ know who I am." Then I added playfully, "But for the record, I prefer Angel to the others."

"I see!" he said with a laugh. "Then, Angel, what would be your next step should I grant you freedom of Mudeenu's wrath?"

When he asked, my answer seemed to both satisfy and surprise him, but I knew what I wanted now more than anything. "I'd like to get out of here and be allowed to go back home."

* * *

Iflar, the white Mipedian noble, led me out of the dark Hall of Ancestry, and into the light of the main throne room. The Mipedian Palace was actually a very open place! Differently shaped bricks made out walls and floors, but there was no ceiling outside the high one in the throne room. Which itself seemed to be the most luxurious part of the whole Fortress, being made of what looked similar to alabaster stones, and blue, cushioned chairs of different sizes with the biggest being the main throne. I didn't have time to sight-see this time, as Iflar was being cautious and looking over corners and guiding me over spiked traps to get me out unseen. Even in areas where there was nothing happening, he would look over his shoulder at me for long stretches of time.

Throughout the Fortress were carpets and banners, and outnumbering them were stone statues of Mudeenu himself. "He sure likes reminding everyone he's in charge." I joked with Iflar.

With a slightly forced smile he answered back, "Yes, but I fear that his sense of importance may soon get him into trouble." I didn't know what he meant, I just laughed anyway.

We made it to an in-door garden room with hanging plant and complete with a pond. I didn't need to know much about desert cultures to know that something like this implied a state of high living. Iflar pushed me and himself behind a stone pillar as two guards walked by. He then hurried us over to an open door that led right to a view of the outer wall. Iflar then told me, "This where we say good-bye, Angel." He told me. "The guards will be here in about five minutes for their patrol. You have only that long to drop over that wall and escape here."

"Thank you so much for this, Iflar." I said, giving him a quick hug. "When I lost my scanner I thought I would have ended my day being code."

With a light chuckle he told me. "It has been my great pleasure to meet you this day, my friend. But do not come to the Royal Fortress unprotected again! I may not be able to help you. Now go!" I stood up, and took off running.

I reached the wall. I threw one leg over to prepare for the jump! A laser just barely missed my head and sent me falling back. "Intruder!" And I recognized the shooter. _Mudeenu!_ "A human! Stop her!" Five guards came running at me, I jumped up and started running down the length of the wall.

My legs carried me running, jumping and dodging. On my first sharp turn one of the guards didn't prepare himself for the turn and was left seeing stars by the other four. Then they chased me over a spiked-floor trap where another guard got his tail stuck and had to be left behind as well. Passing a flame-breathing statue at the wrong time caught the third guard, and by the time I reached the throne room the last two were nowhere in sight.

"Ah-ha!" I cheered myself. Suddenly something lifted me by the back of my shirt off the floor! I looked up while I struggled and saw nothing there, until a voice in my ear said, "Invisibility is quite useful when catching a _cocky_ thief." And it was Mudeenu suspending me up in the air.

 _Worst fear: checkmate!_

"Hey, let me go!" I tried to break away. "I haven't done anything!"

"All evidence to the contrary." The giant, lizard deadpanned. "It was very foolish and awfully arrogant of you to try to get past our defenses not once, but twice!" He then turned me around so I was staring into his horned, angry face! "Who sent you to spy on us? If you reveal your conspirators now, I _may_ lighten your stay in the prison."

I was about to say that I wasn't conspiring with anyone, when another familiar face strode into the room. "I will answer that, cousin." Iflar looked angrier than when I saw him a little while ago. And his anger wasn't directed at me, it was at Mudeenu.

"Crown Prince Iflar!" Mudeenu gasped, slightly bowing. _I need to catch up on my who's-who in Perim, big time!_ "This Chaotic Player-"

"Angel." Iflar correct him.

Mudeenu looked confused from where I was dangling. "I…beg your pardon, Crown Prince?"

Iflar crossed his arms at his cousin. "This is Angel Majors. The one who got her in to our Fortress was none other than _you_ , dear cousin. When you ordered that metal crate of Battle Gear you have told no one about." Mudeenu blanched. Iflar continued. "I am responsible for showing her the way out. Put her down, Mudeenu, I would like for you to witness a question I have for this child." Giving me an uneasy look, Mudeenu gently lowered me to the ground. I straightened out my shirt as best I could and looked up at Iflar. "Angel." He spoke calmly, "In the entire time you were here, trapped and then led _almost_ to freedom, why did you not try to scan any Creature, Gear or Location during that time?"

When Iflar was watching me he must have been stopping to see if I would try to scan him or anything in the Fortress. But I never did. I answered him. "Because when I was almost run over and carried in here, my scanner fell out of my pocket somewhere. I realize I forgot to tell you earlier, which was stupid of me. I couldn't scan anything, and even if I did have it I would have used my scan to port back to Chaotic when I got locked in the vault."

"You were inside the vault!?" Mudeenu roared. Iflar silenced him by holding up a hand. Mudeenu then spoke in a more polite tone. "My Prince she could still be deceiving you. The Chaotic Player could have simply hidden her scanner while she was taken in. We should at least lock her up until we have done a complete search of the Fortress."

Iflar looked between Mudeenu and me. He seemed to be contemplating this. A guard ran into the room. "Prince Mudeenu." And seeing who else was in here he immediately bowed, "Crown Prince Iflar!" He gave me a suspicious look and said nothing to me.

"What is it, Vinta?" Iflar said.

He said, "Ghatup and Miss Ebberim are outside the main gate, sires. They say they have something of great importance to report."

Iflar cast a questioning look at me. I smiled up at him and nodded. "Send them to me." Iflar told Vinta, "My cousin and I will be waiting for them here."

* * *

Iflar sat on his own throne, while Mudeenu sat in his. He told me to hide behind the corner behind the thrones where no one could see me. When I could see what was going on fairly well. Ghatup and Ebberim approached the two princes together and bowed. "Please, rise." Iflar instructed. "And tell me what brings you here today."

"Your Highness," Ghatup spoke, "we believe that there is to be an attempted break in by a pair of human vagabonds into this very stronghold."

Iflar was speaking seriously. "Really? Humans?" Then he sounded amused. "Well, won't that be interesting! I have never seen a human child in any form other than holograms. It will be interesting to see one in person in my own home."

Using both hands to hold back my laugh, I listened as Ghatup spoke again, "We-We could not capture them, but we do have a description. A boy of stout stature with green eyes and brown hair. And a female-"

"Small, pale, black-haired and blue-eyed?" Iflar finished.

I saw Ebberim and Ghatup's eyes pop. "You have…?" Ghatup asked in fear. He must think that I'm already in prison or something like that.

A smile clearly on his face, Iflar called out. "Angel! Would you come out here, my friend?"

I stepped out from the corner, a bright smile on my face. The two Mipedians from the market had matching looks of surprise, where only Ebberim's face melted into relief, while Iflar's own face showed amusement and Mudeenu didn't look happy about anything at all. I ran up to Ebberim and hugged her from around the waist. "Oh, how you scared me, little one!" Ebberim said putting her arms around me.

"Sorry, Ebberim." I said to her. "I shouldn't have gone to the street when I heard those guards."

"That would have saved us some trouble." The Mipedian named Ghatup looked down at me, but he didn't look as angry as he sounded.

In rage, Mudeenu broke up the moment, "Are you two forgetting-"

To which Iflar stopped him again, "That there is another human in this situation? I believe Angel told me his name is Manny." Ghatup shared a look of panic with Ebberim as she continued to hold me. He quickly bowed saying, "Please excuse me a moment!" and sped out the door.

It was me, Ebberim, Mudeenu and _Crown Prince_ Iflar in the big room. Once the sound of Ghatup's running footsteps faded, Iflar stood and walked up to us. I felt Ebberim tense as the second-in-command of her Tribe came up to us. She let me turn around, but kept her hands protectively tight on my shoulders. Iflar shared a kind smile with her, to which she smiled back and bowed her head. Then he knelt in front of me and spoke to me like he did when he found me below ground.

"Now that you know I am the Crown Prince, are you less enthused on befriending me, young Angel?"

I did feel a little cheated that not only did I not have my scanner here, but I had also met the two biggest names in the Mipedian Tribe the one time I don't have it. As far learning that Iflar was the well-hidden Crown Prince, "No way! Like I said, no matter what other people call me I know who I am. That also applies to you, Prince or not, you're a good person. But I _will_ have to call you Crown Prince Iflar from now on. Just out of respect, and for how you fooled me."

The Crown Prince laughed. Ghatup came back with Manny walking in front of him. "Ange, you're okay!" he cried out when he saw me.

"Manny!" We both met for a hug. When he pulled out, Manny reached into his pocket and pulled out my lost, purple scanner. "Here, ya dropped this before ya got carried away back there. Phew! You sure do get around here."

I playfully punched his arm. "It wasn't on purpose, ya know! But yeah, I'm sorry if I made you worry. I'm sorry for making everyone worried."

"Psh-aw!" Manny waved it off. "We came here _because_ we looking for adventure. And… whoa. Looks like you caught a ride straight to adventure-central, Angel." Manny looked over at all the Mipedians standing in the room. From where Prince Iflar was standing he cast a knowing look over at Mudeenu's direction. "Angel Majors," Iflar spoke loudly. "It appears we have clear evidence that your scanner truly was lost to you before entering the palace. Now would you further demonstrate that the scanner is your own?"

"How?" I asked with a shrug.

Manny answered. "By porting out of here! No Chaotic Player can do that unless they have their own scanner."

A wave of relief washed over me. I finally had my scanner back in my hand, I could go home! As I looked over at Ebberim, Ghatup and Iflar, I knew I just needed one more thing before I left today. "If I might ask, Crown Prince Iflar, I'd like to talk to Ebberim before I go." Iflar nodded, and Ebberim walked up to me.

"Ebberim, I want to thank you and Ghatup for coming so far to save me." I said to her. "Not a lot of people would do that for a person they only made friends with a few hours ago."

"Mipedians stand up for their allies." Ebberim smoothed my hair as she said. "It doesn't matter if we met them an hour or even a lifetime ago. I hope you will come and hear me sing tonight." She added in a whisper. "After all this, I think all my stage fright has disappeared over the dunes." I laughed.

"Ebberim, would it be alright if I scanned you?" This is what I wanted to ask. "If I'm going to become someone else in Chaotic, then I'd like to be someone who is not only brave but also someone who has been a good a friend as you."

Ebberim smiled as she replied, "Be my guest."

I scanned Ebberim, and Ghatup was nice enough to let me scan him too. But before I could go back to Manny Iflar came up and whispered to me. "I couldn't help but notice you did not ask for a scan of me, my friend."

I felt embarrassed as I explained my not asking. "Well, you are still the Crown Prince, Iflar. As a friend I don't think I can ask for a scan of you. Besides it would give Mudeenu an excuse to call me a traitor if someone breaks into the Fortress again."

Iflar sent a look over at Mudeenu that made him wince a little. "Mudeenu and I are going to be having a talk with my father tonight." He told me. "I think with the Human's Return it's time for me to stop hiding in the palace and start becoming more active with the Mipedian affairs."

I saw Iflar cast an interestingly soft look towards Ebberim, then he said to me in a whisper. "And I hope you will not let the impression of Mudeenu alone sway you to think negatively of my people."

I shook my head. "After meeting, you, Ebberim and Ghatup, there's no chance of that, Iflar."

Waving good-bye to our knew friends and a soon-to- be-in-major-time-out Mudeenu, Manny and I ported back to Chaotic.

* * *

 **Chaotic**

Sitting down at a table, slurping down lemonade after lemonade to re-hydrate ourselves, Manny and I shared our adventures. Manny told me how after I was taken away, he Ghatup and Ebberim worked out a plan that involved him getting captured and put into the same prison as me to get me my scanner back. "They couldn't become traitor to the crown, so they acted like they were delivering the info to make it look like we were looking together and could be jailed together!"

"My hero." I said with only a little bit of sarcasm. And I told Manny about how I got in the vault, realized my scanner was missing and met Crown Prince Iflar. Manny laughed at the part where I didn't know who he actually was.

"OMG, Angel!" He couldn't stop laughing. So like a good friend I shoved a burger into his mouth.

Setting down a drink of lemonade, I said. "I've never even seen his card before. They're still really rare."

Manny started eating the burger and told me. "Fair enough." Or at least that's what I translated. I never know what Manny says until he swallows. "Ya know this wasn't really how I planned out the Awesomest Day in Mipedian Territory, but object was retrieved!"

"There was an objective to all this chaos?"

"Totes!" Manny stated. "Step one: find the Mipedian Big City. Step Two: Gather info and scans. Step Tre's: Find a way into the Royal Fortress no matter what! And Four: Have the best day ever!"

I laughed and rolled my eyes. Manny and I are such different people. That's what I like about him. We both love adventures and Chaotic, but we have different ways of seeing them. What I would call a mess is what Manny considers a success, and what I consider minor is what Manny consider….yep, major! _A girl can't ask for a better guy-friend._

I told Manny, "Every adventure we have is the best day, buddy."

"Awww! I'm getting misty-eyed." Manny grinned. Then he pumped his fist. "And this is only the beginning!"

"Huh?" I said nearly dropping my drink.

Manny went on. "We started off with a bang, but now we need to go nuclear bomb! So next I was thinking of something in the Underworld, or maybe Mommark's Castle of Creatures! Then we can start thinking M'arillian stomping grounds. Things there can get really freaky and-"

 _Oh, boy…_ I need to make sure I do my part as Manny's friend too. He may be willing to go all out on a fun day, but I need to be there to make sure he stops and takes a good look around. That's how our relationship works. We go running off into trouble together, and we stop along the way to see what other possibilities are out there.

 _I can't wait until Kit and Kat get back from their day._ I think this as Manny continues planning on.

* * *

 _ **A/N**_ **: For those wondering: I used the description of the palace from the Chaotic Shadow Warriors game. And Added the garden scene from _A Flux To Far_ from season one.**

 **But I only own my OCs!**

 **Hope you all enjoyed this chpater. We'll be seeing what Kit and Kat are up to in the next one.**

 **Please review on your thoughts!**


	8. Red H'earring

**Sorry this took a while.**

 **Life, ya know?**

 **It's a story of Kat and Kit Kalinkas in the Underworld.**

 **They are the Bold and the Brains!**

* * *

 **Red H'earring**

Kit Kalinkas and Kat Kalinkas had been having pretend games of going to Chaotic in their backyard for as long as either of them could remember. Always under the direction of their father, they could navigate the jungle-gym that was a series of caves or hide behind cardboard boxes while they avoided 'lava'. Dr. Kazdan Kalinkas, their father, casually shared stories of adventures with them even when the twins reached their teen years. It was their secret.

But Dr. Kalinkas was now out of his home more frequently, and wasn't even in the same state when his children received their Chaotic Codes. And right now, Kat and Kit were in the actual place their father had told them could be the one of the most exciting, and the most dangerous place he ever went in Chaotic: Underworld City.

Kit was feeling cautious. He'd heard how hostile and ruthless the Underworld Creatures could be. His dad had told him that it was best to at first go in quietly, find out who had a sense of loyalty to a human, and learn how to be someone the other Creatures could respect. So Kit walked around, avoiding eye-contact with the citizens.

His sister Kat however…. "Hurry up, slowpoke!"

Kat was more than ready charge in head-first to the Underworld. She had never been afraid of the Creatures in the cards and reveled in how in their pretend games it had always been her goal to reach the highest box and attack the Creature from behind that her father was imitating. "It's this way, bro!" Kat had climbed up the side of a stone statue of the Underworld's leader, Chaor, leaning off the horn on his its head and was pointing out in the distance towards Gothos Tower.

Panicking at what his saw his sister doing, Kit called up. "Kat, get down!" The Underworlders were known to be particularly ready for a fight over anything. If their leader, or whatever kind of law enforcement there was here, found out a human had disrespectfully climbed onto a statue of their leader... Kit didn't want to see Kat burned to a crisp.

Kat just laughed at her brother. "Chill, Kit!" In one jump she was back on the ground next to her twin, hands on her hips. "You've been more jumpy than usual today. Relax, we've practically grown up in this place."

Narrowing his eyes at her, Kit reminded Kat, "We grew up in a suburban town, _above ground_ , and playing in the backyard. Plus, Dad's thing happened a long time ago, safe bet that more than a few things have changed since then. Aside from references of thirty years ago, we have no idea what's around here!"

Kat rolled her eyes in annoyance. "You're always the killjoy! Unpredictability is the best thing about the Underworld. We're going to have an awesome time if you just let things go and see what happens!"

"No, Kat I've seen what happens when you do this." Kit argued back. "You go in too fast, too hard, and you end up in over your head! You need to think smart about this or you get us both in serious trouble this time."

"Whoa, what?" Kat was getting a little angry now. "When have I ever gotten you into trouble?"

"Every time!" Kit stated. "Whenever we try to do stuff together you always have to do something to make it more interesting to you and I always have to share the blame with you because I'm the one who has to help get you out!"

"Who says you 'have to'!?"

"Mom and Dad, Kat! They know you can't be trusted on your own!"

"Well, they aren't here. So why don't you just go off and do your own thing while actually get somewhere for once?" Kat stormed off towards Gothos Tower.

"Fine!" Kit walked off angrily in the other direction.

As the two humans walked off, an Underworlder had heard the odd commotion outside and taken a peek out. He looked in the direction Kit was leaving in. "He's back? He's back!" It was H'earring, the long-eared Underworld scout who had once been a friend to a group of Chaotic Players. As H'earring went chasing off in the direction of the male twin, up in the sky, Takinom had seen the whole argument and decided to shadow the female child.

* * *

 **Kit's Story**

Kit was fuming after his argument with his sister. Sure, they'd had fights before, but this wasn't over something silly like a Chaotic card or a piece of candy. Real Chaotic means real fireballs, real lava pits, real high-tempered Creatures and real life-threatening danger. To Kat of this was like a game where she could take risks without consequences and make sacrifices that she can undo later. And if that sacrifice ended up pushing him in front of a dangerous Creature, Kit had a strong feeling his sister would go ahead and do it if he stuck around.

"Hot-headed, obstinate, pain in my side!" Kit angrily muttered to himself. "Takes more than a few bricks to knock some sense into her! Maybe getting herself coded will teach her a lesson for once." Kit started thinking this as he walked on. Getting some distance from his sister had helped him cool off, but by the time he stopped and looked around he had no idea where he was. And again, he blamed this on his sister. "If I wasn't so mad at Kat I would know where I am now!"

He brought out his scanner and looked at the map of marked Locations on it. "Well, it says it's the metal district." There were Creatures walking around that seemed only to be Underworld citizens, none of them were warriors and none looked too friendly to ask for directions. Kit had to sigh and admit that his predicament of being alone in a strange place was basically his own fault.

Not far behind, H'earring was having his own vocal thoughts. "That's just _gotta_ be Kaz! But how? Except for the Deep Mines every Creature was affected by the Wrip Wave. Hnn…" H'earring pondered between continuing to follow the boy or going to Chaor to tell him about this. Ultimately, when started going deeper into the city, H'earring followed after him, keeping his ears up to listen to any hint the boy might give on his identity.

Listening closely, H'earring heard the boy say, "I kinda do want see one place from The Map." H'earring didn't understand, but Kit was referring to something back in the human world. When he and Kat were in the sixth grade they tried drawing their own map of the Underworld. They spent hours and hundreds of red crayons on it, and when Kaz came home that night he got right in to helping them perfect it. The Map was finally done between the three of them in ten days! "Dad said there was one friend who lived there who the best Creature to know in the Underworld. I'd really like to see who."

Kit started looking around for a landmark to help him remember which way it was, when a gust of air zoomed by him. Kit stumbled and readjusted his glasses to see what had zipped by then come to a sudden stop in front of him.

"Kaz!" it was Rarran. Not exactly on break from his duties in the Pit, Rarran had ears that could rival H'earring's ability that picked up the human's voice. Curious, the giant bat had loomed over for only a second before identifying his target and swooping in. "It's you… but how?"

"Uh…" Kit was at a loss for words. Rarran was a giant green, hairy bat and one with a bit of a rep in the Underworld. Kaz had mentioned him to his children, but nothing to make Kit feel like they were close.

"The Wrip Wave really messed us up." Rarran continued, still thinking Kit was Kaz. "Overworld, Underworld, everything but the Deep Mines just stopped!" Kit was confused and dumbfounded into silence. Rarran didn't see this as a toothy grin spread out on his face. "But hey! What am I doing? You've obviously had your own time dilemma, but you made it back okay. C'mon , I know Chaor will want to see ya!"

Kit gained his voice back then. "What!?" he said.

Rarran once again took to the air and proceeded hook his clawed feet beneath Kit's arms. They were only a foot off the ground when,

"Stop!" H'earring ran out and yanked Kit out of Rarran's claws by his leg. Kit fell with a thud next to H'earring. The little Underworlder glared up at Rarran. "Are you crazy or something!?"

"Flying is the fastest way!" Rarran shouted back.

H'earring shouted back. "Not that! Rarran, that isn't Kaz!"

"Yes, it is! Look at him, who else could it be?"

"It's been solons! And the last time we saw Kaz he was a fully grown human."

Kit tried to talk, "Um-" but he was immediately shut down by Rarran saying.

"The anomaly affected all of Perim, _except_ the M'arillians! Chaotic Players are the-odd-tribe-out too. If time froze for us, it could have _reversed_ them!"

The two Creature's conversation… Kit tried to understand what they were saying. A _time_ anomaly? That's not possible. Did something happen to Perim? Kit was well above average in his science classes, he knew that the spin of the Earth and be sped up on ultra-rare occasion (A/N: Like this year! We lost a whole second!), but it sounded like H'earring and Rarran were arguing about a longer skip than just a few seconds.

Rarran suddenly shouted at H'earring furiously! "Why are you trying to keep him from going to Chaor, H'earring? You don't have anything to _hide_ do you? Like how the Wrip Wave happened?"

"What?!" H'earring screamed. "You can't accuse me like that! Chaor knows I was with him when the Wrip Wave went across Perim, and I was right next to him when it was over!"

"But Kaz was gone!" Rarran jabbed a claw in Kit's direction. "He was gone just before that and now he's back to being a child! You co-conspirators are both going straight to the Pits!" Rarran released two rays of light from his eyes. "Paralyze!"

H'earring jumped back and pushed Kit to the ground to get him out of the way! Realizing that Rarran was not going to listen or cooperate with them, H'earring took the boys and ran down one of the dark allies of Underworld City. "Run ahead!" H'earring told Kit. Once Kit was out of the way H'earring stopped and used a Confusion attack, disorienting Rarran and allowing the two of them to reach a safer distance.

Now able to catch their breath and talk, Kit sat on a small, wood crate and began talking to the Underworlder. "So, H'earring-"

But H'earring wanted to make sure one thing was clear. "Are you Kaz's son?" he asked. He had thought the same as Rarran until he actually remembered Kaz was well passed this age they last time they were together.

"Yeah!" Kit happily replied. "Dad's Chaotic name was KidChaor. He's told me my whole life about the Underworlders, like you and Chaor."

"So he never forgot me?" H'earring asked eagerly, fishing for a confirmation.

Kit confirmed. "Not for a day."

H'earring looked at the offspring of his old friend. He could see why Rarran might have thought this was Kaz. Their choice of clothes was a bit different, but the eyes, hair and scrawny frame were just the same. Kit even wore Kaz's pink shaded glasses. H'earring smiled at how this human reminded him of his old friend. "Then why hasn't he come back?"

Kit scratched the back of his head nervously and tried to explain. "He… doesn't know yet. Dad's a doctor now, and recently his specialty work called for him to go to a hospital in another state for a few months. My sister and I want to tell him in person as soon as he gets home, though."

"The female!" H'earring remembered seeing the two argue at Chaor's statue. "Kaz has a daughter too!" H'earring giggled imagining all the favors and extra Dractyl scales he could get out of this arrangement! "I thought the two of you looked similar. Where did she go off too?"

Remembering his sister, Kit's anger was renewed. "I don't know and I don't care!" He fumed, crossing his arms.

H'earring saw he was angry, but chose to overlook it. "I thought she looked like him too. But she only has half his personality."

His interest quipped, Kit asked. "Kat? Half of Dad's personality?"

H'earring led Kit down the 'safe' streets down to his house. On the way he shared his own version of Kaz's time in Perim. "…Kaz came and found me after the M'arillian Invasion was over. He brought an entire bag of Dractyl scales, he thought I'd be mad at him."

"Weren't you?" Kit asked.

"Completely." H'earring replied. "Then Kaz went into a whole speech about how terrible he felt after I was controlled and how far he went to try and get me back. Hee-hee, that and the snacks were enough to make me remember that as much as he was pain sometimes, Kaz was the most loyal friend I had!" H'earring was really advertising the scales bid to Kit. The human however, was caught on something else.

Still, thinking about why he left his sister to create her own chaos, Kit asked. "If Kaz was such pain to the extent of getting you mind-controlled, why did you forgive him again?"

"I realized I could never stay mad at Kaz for long." H'earring said the next part without any kind of manipulation. Just taking a trip of his own down memory lane. "Down here in the Underworld, even the closest of friends still shoot fire at each other for any reason. But Kaz could have just left me several times and gone on playing in Chaotic. Instead he came back again and again, he failed, but he risked his _own_ mind even before the worst of the M'arillian's plan happened. Even before that, he and his human friends were loyal to risking their lives for me."

Kit pressed his point. "But why stick around when you know danger is on the way. Didn't you ever think that the smart thing to do would be just to walk off and leave it behind?"

"Now what fun would that be?" H'earring asked. "Sure, at times I thought Kaz's friendship was more trouble than it was worth. And every time I was forced to choose, I always chose to go along despite how bad my ears got burned! Hee-hee! But hey, if there was no risk then I could have easily called my friend worthless. Think about it! What better way to prove yourself than to come through when the risk is highest?"

Kit thought back on this. He and Kat had a lot of history: History of her getting into the trouble and often bringing Kit along for the ride whether he was willing or not. To the point where the twins established boundaries inside of school where they were only seen together walking in and walking out. They developed different reputations, yet still managed to keep a somewhat stable sibling relationship. After listening to H'earring Kit remembered that tat connection was as much his effort as well as Kat's. She really did give a bloody nose to anyone, boy or girl, freshman to senior, who gave Kit a hard time. Just like Kaz was with H'earring Kat _did_ come through as often as she got in over her head.

"We're here!" H'earring announced. Kit blinked out of his thoughts to see where they were. Between two large, thick-stone buildings, was a significantly smaller dwelling sandwiched between them. "Home sweet home!"

"This is…" Kaz looked around where he was. "H'earring… this is where I was going on the Map!"

"Map?" asked H'earring.

Kit smiled down at his new friend. "When Dad was telling me and my sister about the Underworld as kids, he helped us create a map of every place he could pin down from memory. Here, this stop, is where he told me I could find something invaluable in Perim."

"What did he say?" H'earring really did miss his human. He wanted to know what he had been doing all this time.

"He said, 'The best, and most knowledgeable scout in Perim lives right here in the Underworld.'"

H'earring's people were ruthless and hot-tempered by nature. But an Underworlder like H'earring couldn't even think to stop the drops of tears that reflected just how important he had been to this boy's father.

* * *

 **Kat's Story… (A/N: Ehh…Why not?)**

Meanwhile, Kat was having her own adventure. She was steamed about what Kit had said. He was defenseless without her, on Earth and here, she thought he would be more respectful and appreciative of her by now! So she figured it would just be about five minutes before a Creature attacked him and Kit would run screaming for her to come save him. "Brothers are so stupid." Kat said under her breath. Talking out loud was Kit's thing, and Kat didn't want to look crazy around here.

She'd beaten up every single, snot-nosed chump who pushed around Kit from grade school and onward! Then he just blames her for making everything harder for him? Sure, she got caught plenty of times. Sure, sometimes Kit got in trouble along with her. Sure, a _few_ times he'd gotten in the way and got a _little_ hurt because of it! Kat felt that she needed something to let off some steam right now. She looked around where she was and spotted a kind of gathering of Creatures, kind of like a rowdy tavern.

Kat walked right past the other Chaotic Players and went right in.

 **10 minutes later….**

There was roaring, furniture crashing, along with fire and punches. Out from the rumpus and destroyed building came a giggling with glee, red-head Chaotic Player with a retro red Scanner in her hands. "Ha ha ha! That was priceless!" Kat looked at all the Creature scans she got during the fight as she raced off into the streets.

"Oh, I gotta do that again!" Kat quickly scanned the Location she was in and ported back to download her deck. Less than a minute later she was back and going into the next tavern, starting up another fight.

Kat Kalinkas managed to start five bar fights in Underworld City in less than an hour!

And she still wasn't done! "Fifteen scans in one day? I'm on a roll!" Kat's objective of either going to Gothos Tower or getting out her frustration at Kit was completely forgotten in her reverie of success. "Those guys even had some boss Battle Gear on them. I love this place!" Kat couldn't wait to rub this in Kit's face! No way was he having as good a time as she was.

As Kat was thinking over how awesome it would be to challenge her friends to matches with Creatures who were on a rage high, she felt herself be swiped off the ground. "Hey!" Kat's grip automatically tightened around her scanner. However the claw that ripped it out of her hands was way stronger than her.

"Can't having you porting away while you're being arrested, little one." Takinom supported the girl with one arm while she set the scanner into a pouch at her hip. "You've caused too much destruction, human! You'll be judged by Chaor for this!"

Kat respected and admired Takinom greatly. Enough that she had even made her Chaotic name after her. But no way was the hot-headed human going quietly even if it was to a place she had wanted to scope out. "No way, lady!" Kat struggled, but Takinom remained unfazed in her flight. "Put me down now! I'm not going!"

But Kat's flight was a non-stop.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Kit and H'earring had gone into H'earring's house when the Creature picked up the sound of the Underworlders getting so worked up. The entire time, H'earring shared with Kit all the new things that had been happening in Perim. Including what he had been arguing with Rarran about the 'Wrip Wave.'

"And no one knows how it happened?" Kit asked at the end.

H'earring told him. "No one in the Underworld any way. No one even noticed it at first. I'd heard that something big was going on in the Overworld a few days ago. Then I went out for my snack time, fungus fruit!" H'earring licked his licks while Kit resisted a gag reflex. "Nothing had really changed, except there was a whole new generation of M'arillians. Then Agitos announced that our spies in the Overworld found that… that…"

"That what?"

"I don't know how to explain it! The stars were wrong or something!" H'earring could hear just about everything going on in Perim, but that didn't make him the smartest of Creatures.

Kit tried to reason it out. "That does make some sense. If time only stopped for Perim then it makes sense that the celestial alignment would be different even if it was a thirty 'solon' displacement. But why not for the Deep Mines? Is there a kind of immunity created by the doors? Or by the M'arillians themselves?"

Kit looked over to see H'earring's eyes wildly spinning in his head. The green Creature held his head down until the spinning stopped and said, "Yeah, sure, whatever you want. But long story short, is that Perim lost solons of our lives and only a short time later you Chaotic Players came back!"

"Really?" Kit immediately thought of telling his friends about this. Perim had been frozen in time until Chaotic reopened… Connection? Very possible in Kit's mind. H'earring obviously didn't have much more information, and Kit really wanted to tell the others about this. "H'earring, thank you so much for saving me back there. I owe you."

Magic words. "Oh! Then if you ever need a little inside knowing I- No! No, no, no! That could mean betraying Chaor. Yet… if there was ever a time where I might remember something… fungus fruit or Dractyl scales are good for memory." Kit laughed, knowing full too well what H'earring had been trying to accomplish all this time.

He laughed saying. "And I'll be sure to tell Dad you say hi." As Kit was walking out the door he happened to look up. "What the?" Just in time to see his sister being taken away by Takinom.

H'earring came out and saw them too. "Isn't that-?"

"Kat!" Kit took off running after the winged-Underworlder. "Wait!" H'earring tried to warn him. If Takinom was taking the girl anywhere it was likely to the castle where Chaor ruled from. And even if you were invited in, there was always the chance that you wouldn't come back out. So H'earring, despite a loud voice in his head telling him not to, took off after Kit.

* * *

 **A/N: I wanted to give the twins a little character development time.**

 **And I also threw in a the 'Wrip Wave' to help explain why the Creatures still look the same and why little has changed.**

 **I like reviews, so please do!**

 **Part 2 is comming!**


	9. Red H'earring Pt 2

**A/N: Kat is captured!**

 **Kit is enroute!**

 **H'earring is nearing,**

 **And Takinom is...**

 **Wait, where is she? Meh, oh well...**

 **Don't know if you're expecting dark but here it is!**

 **Red H'earring Part 2~**

* * *

 **At the Doors of the Castle**

The Underworld has a natural state of chaos about it. The Tribe that lives there takes pride in this as it shows how many of them are strong and not to be looked down on for their place away from the sunshine. They detest the Overworlders who have forests ,light and water in abundance. Every citizens holds a grudge and would not hesitate to destroy any resemblance of an Overworlder. Yet even here there is such a thing as too much destruction, or perhaps here is a feeling of being threatened by even the tiniest bit of resistance. Kat Kalinkas, a mere human girl of sixteen, had started five brawls in Underworld City and would have gone on causing more if Takinom had not arrested her. No one threatened Chaor's rule, least of all a mere human who showed spirit.

The home of the Tribe's conqueror was the most imposing and massive than anything else Kat had seen today. At least two towers were visibly spewing fire and some had different odd glows emitting from the windows. If she wasn't settling for just glaring at the guards with her hands bound in front of her, Kat would have called the structure overcompensating and overheated. She stared straight for the most part of the long walk through the halls being escorted with six guards surrounding her. Takinom had already flown off somewhere.

Kat's scanner was being held by one of the guards in front of her, well out of her reach. Every guard was much taller and wearing red armor that even Kat knew she couldn't fight against. Just the same, each time she cast a nasty glare in their direction, Kat also was looking past them to the inside structures if the castle. She looked for windows and tried to memorize the turns and corridors.

Kat was stubborn. She truly believed that at the first opportunity she saw she would be able to escape. Brute force wasn't an option. She was clearly not in the guards' weight class, though those weren't unfamiliar odds to her. The human rebel figured what she would really need is a distraction! She could pretend to trip when they turned the next corner, then she would wait for an opening and jump, kick or dodge her way back out. These guys were likely to underestimate her being unarmed and nothing more than a human.

A flash of red caught Kat's eye for a second. She didn't see for long to be sure, but it had looked familiar enough. She had seen it so many times, especially when she was least expecting it. The guards weren't able to see her grin. As they were all going down a long hallway, Kat tried to look for hint of her brother. It wasn't that dark thanks to the big and frequent fires lighting the halls, yet there were shadows big enough to conceal Creatures. But Kat could still see slight flickers of spiky red hair. She wasn't sure what she was supposed to do or if Kit was just planning to follow her. Her gaze at the shadows became glares as she could no long make out any trace of her brother.

"HEADS UP!" Kit came swinging down on a loosened chandelier that H'earring was holding onto the chain on the second floor with all his might! The guards were so stunned at the sight, that unlike Kat they didn't have the sense to duck out of the way in time.

(A/N: For those who enjoy comedy, please play your Benny Hill theme… now!)

Kit felt triumphant at knocking the Underworld guards straight into the wall! But his luck ran out when H'earring, being denied the structure of his ancestors, couldn't hold the chain anymore and it lifted him off the ground! When Kit felt the chain losing slack at his end he looked back over his shoulder to see H'earring slam his head into the castle ceiling, he uttered an, "Uh-oh." And fell with the circular, meat ornament!

As he was falling, Kit's chandelier turned to the side and became a wheel which Kit had to run backwards on! Seeing her brother now in distress after trying to save her, Kit dropped her constrains (that were clearly meant for a creature much bigger than her) and sprinted down the hall after him! She managed to catch up, but she couldn't grab the chandelier to make it stop. Instead she opted to jump inside and try to slow it down so Kit could get off. Kat had highly overestimated her own strength and underestimated the momentum of the chandelier so once she was inside, she was as helpless to stop it as Kit. In fact, with the two of them together, Kit on top of the wheel and Kat inside, the chandelier went alarmingly faster! Until finally they crashed into a wall.

The Underworld guards had recovered and taken off in the direction they saw the children go. When the caught up to them the chandelier was half-way into the castle wall, and the two humans were laying off to the side with looks of dizziness. Upon seeing the guards however, Kit grabbed his sister's hand and took off running with her despite her wobbly steps. The six guards gave chase, staying in a group with their blasters ready. Kat and Kit had a good head start though, that the guards were having troubling keeping up with through the corridors.

Kit led Kat into a room with a long table and many chairs. They ran on opposite sides of the table, pulling out the chairs or knocking them over behind themselves to impede the guards. To their luck, the guards were at first so confused who to go after and ended up running into the table, before bouncing back and falling over the chairs that it gave both humans enough time to get through the next door.

The next room was a library, Kat's least favorite place but one she knew the rules of. Kit shushed her as they entered and the two tried to tip toe as fast as possible to the next door. Seeing Agitos was there, the twins ducked under a study table when he looked over his shoulder to see who came in. Seeing no one, he returned to his books. Kit and Kat resumed the quiet, fast paced escape only for Kat to push Kit down under a table again when Agitos took another look. He shrugged once again seeing no one and went back to reading. This happened two more times of the blue Creature nearly spotting them, until the two humans were only four feet away from the door. That's when the guards burst in noisily! "GAH!" Agitos fumbles the book he was holding and cast an angry look at the bumbling guards. Seeing their hunters made Kit and Kat sprint out the other door while Agitos was going over to scold the guards. The masked Creatures trampled all over Agitos, now fully focused on capturing the humans. And when Agitos got up he, with equal fervor, ran after the guards!

The chase brought Kit and Kat down to a hallway of six door, three on each side. They hesitated, not sure which one would possibly lead them out safely. But when they saw the red of the guards' helmets coming closer, Kat took Kit and went in the second door on the left and Kit shut it behind them. The guards had seen the children go down the hallway, but none of them saw which door the children took. One of the leading guards chose the third door on the right and the others followed him in, closing the door so the humans could not escape the same way. After the guards came and infuriated Agitos and he chose the third door on the left to come after them!

Kit peeked out of the first door on the hall's left and gestured for his sister to come with him. They closed the door behind them just in time for the guards to spot them as they came out the third door on the right!

The twins screamed and ran through the first door on the right with the guards right behind them!

Agitos looked out the second door on the right to investigate the noise before deciding to try the third door on the left.

Kat came running out the third door on the right with just one guards chasing her, and they disappeared through the first door on the left!

Kit came running out the third door on the left with two guards behind him and to the first door on the halls left.

Two guards went from the middle door on the left to the middle door on the right, Agitos screaming after them!

Kit came chasing his sister through the first door on the right to the third door on the left.

Agitos came yelling through the first door on the left to the first door on the right with three guards behind him.

Then Kit appeared chasing two guards through the left's second doors before turning around and running right back through it.

Agitos chased Kat from the right's third door all the way to the left's second.

Then when Kit came out the first door on the right, he hid around the corner as the guards ran on through to the door on the left. Then he grabbed his sister as she came running out the same door and slammed it shut on whoever was right behind her! The two red-heads laughed and high-fived each other as the they ran back down the corridor they came from, seeing that they had outsmarted their pursuers and were well on the way out. They turned a corner and were each caught by a giant red claw whose owner's voice boomed with the authority and brutish nature of the Underworld's own leader. "Who are you two?"

At which both the twins looked at each other and gulped. "Busted."

(A/N: Music end)

* * *

Kit and Kat both stood before Chaor in his throne room. Both their scanners had been confiscated and in the possession of two of the six guards standing behind them. To Chaor's right stood Takinom looking down on the children, and on Chaor's right was Agitos rubbing his now red nose in pain before glaring down at the children as well.

"Well," Agitos spoke first in a tone of disgust. "I must say that it quite impressive that on a single day two _humans_ can cause such a disturbance. And in the Great Castle, no less." Agitos' words were not praise, but they weren't completely directed at the two children. "The damage is extensive! How could you have let it go on this long? Imagine if the other Tribes learn about this, it will be a dozen solons before you leave the Pits!" The guards trembled, as did Kit.

"Children!" Takinom exclaimed, pointing a talon at the guards. " _Chaotic Players,_ new ones too! You fools couldn't even hold one for an hour! She was meant to be taken to the dungeon and processed. Yet you could handle that! Forget your jobs, your _lives_ are at stake."

Agitos looked over at Takinom. "You are the one who brought her in, Takinom. Didn't you see if she had a collaborator?"

"Enough!" Chaor raised his hand, signaling everyone in the room to stop. "You two!" he pointed down at Kit and Kat, and ordered. "Come closer."

They complied. Kat had a brave look on her face, but Kit was sweating in fear. He was almost regretting coming to his sister's aid. They stood in front of Chaor, he looked between the two of them. "They are not spies." He stated. A bit of relief washed over Kit, Kat crossed her arms and smiled confidently at her brother. Then Chaor reached out and grabbed them both by their collars! "BUT YOU DESTROYED MY CASTLE!" He bellowed. "YOU LITTLE WORMS, OUGHT TO BE DIGESTED BY TOXIS FOR THIS HUMILIATION!"

Chaor didn't exactly have a 'nice guy' voice, but his stern voice made both his seriousness and meaning through to the twin. " However… I see may have further use for each of you." He not-so-gently placed them back on the ground and brought his claws away. "Therefore, you will swear on your _miserable_ lives that when I summon you into my presence again, you will perform any deed for the Underworld that I say. IS THAT CLEAR?" Fire was blazing from Chaor's eyes!

Kit and, for the first time in her life, Kat meekly, shrunk back and replied. "Yes!"

After a beat, Chaor was satisfied with this and signaled for the guards to return the scanners to their humans. Once each of them held their device in their hands, Chaor growled, "Now scram." And they ported out.

* * *

 **Later in Chaotic…**

Kat and Kit were reunited with Manny and Angel, and were all currently laughing as the twins retold their adventure. "I can't believe escaped with our lives!" Kit chuckled, holding a chocolate milkshake.

"Totes!" Kat agreed wrapping one arm around her brother. "Man! Chaor's even scarier than Dad described him!" She laughed along with the rest of the table.

Manny leaned back and began to lounge, kicking his feet up onto the table. "I'd say today was a good day all around. Angel met a Prince, you two evaded the wrath of a blodd-thirsty Conqueror, and we all got roped into sneaking into places we shouldn't! Man, are we a team!"

Angel leaned over the table with what must have been her fifth lemonade. "I'll save Manny the trouble of saying today 'really turned up the heat.'"

"Word." Manny okay-ed her.

"Yeah. And we're really just getting started? I mean, even when I used to imagine coming here when I was little, I would _never_ have imagined all of this would play out the way it did!"

"Chaotic, Angel." Kat reminded her. "Chaotic is the name of the game." A snide grin spread over Kat's face. "And speaking of the game: I need to challenge someone whose not afraid to take Underworlders who's Courage and Power are amped to the max thanks to yours truly!" Kat waved her scanner around and then slid it with an image up to her three friends to see.

"Whao-ho-ho!" Manny exclaimed, seeing the stats. "How did you get those?"

Kat let out a short laugh and stated. " _My_ personal booster ability. I got at least fifteen scans of guys like that. All ready to clobber the first person they see!"

"Not bad, Sis, not bad." Kit consented. He knew they were all here to play, and: if Kat could, then Kat would. That's just how his sister was. "But since you, unfortunately didn't have your scanner while we were in Chaor's Castle, you missed out on _these!"_

Kit hadn't only gotten scans of H'earring on his day out. He'd also gotten Locations scans while they were being chased, along with Battle Gear around the castle and a scan of Agitos.

"WHAT?" Kat couldn't believe it. She would never admit it, but Kit's scans might just make a match with him more difficult even with her new Creatures. "How-?"

Kit tapped his own forehead. "Planning ahead. I figured if I was going to rescue you, I might as well get some scans out of the deal. You really did me a solid on this one Kat."

Angel looked over at Kat, expecting her to be angry. But instead, Kat looked at her brother like she was proud. "Huh… Good plan. You might just be a contender against me, Kit."

"He's got to beat me first!" Manny interjected. Then he looked back down at Kit's scan. "But… first I mmmmight need to go on another scan quest."

The four friends all laughed as they shared their stories of high stakes and new friends. Kit and Kat's argument wasn't forgotten, but they seemed to have made amends in, what to them is, their usual way. Kit was a bit worried about what Chaor might ask them to do when they go back to the Underworld. And Kat assured him that whatever it was, she was going to back him up no matter what. Angel and Manny even volunteered to be on standby.

* * *

 **Meanwhile in the Underworld…**

Chaor stood gazing on his balcony overlooking his city when Agitos approached him carrying some official papers. "I have it all right here, Lord Chaor." Agitos announced. "The record of crimes as well as the punishment should those two humans turn on you."

Chaor swipped the papers away from Agitos and looked them over. Agitos' attention to detail was as good as ever. Along with what he told Chaor he had, there was also a physical description of the two humans should they need to be identified on sight. Chaor read the entire report over before saying, "Good work, Agitos." Agitos nodded in gratitude to his leader. Then Chaor tore up the papers and burned them saying, "Now forget you ever saw them."

Agitos' eyes quivered and his jaw dropped as his work was destroyed before his very eyes. "Bu- But the damages, my lord! Your reputation! If even a whisper-"

"All rumor." Chaor stated. "Everything broken can be repaired easily enough. If anyone dares to say anything different," Chaor got right into Agitos' face, "they can bring it up to _me._ "

Agitos got the message. "Of c-course! As you say, Chaor!" And the scaly, blue Underworlder ran back into the Castle to make sure the guards got the same message. Chaor watched as his advisor disappeared and returned to looking over the capitol.

His peace didn't last long as Takinom flew in and quietly landed behind him. "You knew." She wasn't asking. Takinom knew better than to ask stupid question of Chaor.

Chaor nodded without turning to face her. "It was obvious enough."

Takinom walked over so that she was standing beside him. "The boy I can see, but the girl-"

"You didn't know Kaz like I did." Chaor told her. "Most of the time he used his head, he knew his smarts was his strength. But every now and then he'd do something dangerous just for the heck of it."

"True." Takinom also remembered that many of those times it was Chaor who was there at the boy's aid. "And I supposed the hair on their heads would be proof enough."

Neither Creature had asked anyone who the twins were the offspring of. But Chaor had summoned one other Creature, besides Takinom to come to this spot in regards for their actions today. H'earring came hurrying out of the room. He hadn't been eavesdropping when Agitos came to talk to Chaor, his ears just 'happened' to pick up on it.

"Chaor!" H'earring bowed to his leader. "Takinom! Please, they're good kids! Not the goody-two-shoes like those Overworlders have, but their potential-!"

"Quiet!" Chaor bellowed at the small Creature. "The fact that they didn't beg me or use their father when I met them proves those two have the hearts of Underworlders." To some this might sound like a reprimand. H'earring however caught a hint of pride, like Choar was bragging about Kaz's children and their behavior.

H'earring walked up to join the two on the other side of Chaor. "You weren't going to punish them from the beginning." H'earring observed. "You just wanted to see if those two had the same guts KidChaor did at his age."

Chaor said nothing. But Takinom did. "He must have had them after the humans disappeared from Perim. I want to know how old he is, perhaps Kaz doesn't even know about the Wrip Wave."

"It doesn't matter." Chaor shot her down. "Kaz is gone, the new ones are here. All I need is for them to be as efficient if my plans are to work in the future." Chaor walked farther onto the balcony and placed his hands on the rail. "The two of you are the only ones I want keeping an eye on them when they're here. Learn their habits, so that when I call on them… they _will_ be here."

* * *

 **A/N: I wonder what Chaor has planned? (I know but you don't! :P)**

 **Kaz was one of my favorite characters in the series so I wanted to make sure his kids got the limelight.**

 **If you don't know what a Benny Hill chase is ( Idon't own it), but you should look it up! It's funny!**

 **Leve review and I'll see ya next time!**

 **(Seriously, I drop the story if no one seems interested)**


	10. The Ants and The Players

**Ant-Man came out, and i know I'm late, but hopefully this will be as much fun.**

 **Thank you to everyone who Ravorited, Followed and Reviewed!**

 **It's about time we checked in on the Danian Tribe. This used to be Sarah's favorite place, yet she never told her daughter about it. How will Angel react to this place? Does she have a connection through her mother to the Danians, or will she make her own friends?**

 **Or even, will she make any friends at all?**

 **Let's see!**

* * *

The Danian Tribe dwelled in the Underworld region of Perim. These ant-like Creatures though were no part of the Underworld Tribe which Chaor ruled. They lived in colossal towers of their own making, referring to their tribe unit as a Hive, yet their social structure is measure by their place above the others. At the very top being the only female known to the Tribe, the Queen. The previous Queen was called Illexia, but although she lived it was her daughter Aszil, who now ruled as she went to the Nest of the Ancestors. Danians were not wholly unfriendly, but they did not open their doors up to Chaotic Players even in the best of times. But of course, what great challenge does a Chaotic Player need than a 'you are not welcome' as an invitation?

Two second-generation Chaotic Players, lay in hiding as a patrol marched past. Peeking out from their hiding place, Angel said to Kit, "Are you sure about this?"

"Yeah! Partially…" Kit admitted. His sister was having a Chaotic match with an Overworld player, and Manny had opted to perform an eat-what- you-can experiment in Chaotic that was just too painful for Angel to watch, so the two had decided to go on their own scan quest. "Relax. The key is to just stay out of sight."

"Kit, I…" Angel didn't want to sound like a know-it-all, but the Danians had a society structure that she knew all too well. They were just like ants, complete with works and higher ups. Plus, admitting that her mom had a life-long love for these insects a bit embarrassing for Angel to admit.

Noticing her hesitation, Kit reach over and placed an assuring hand on her shoulder. "I promise we'll get out of this a-okay. Just keep your scanner close at all costs, and watch your step around here." Angel nodded, remembering her last experience. "Besides," Kit continued, "You have Danians in your deck too, Angel. You should be able to say you have some decent scans of them."

She and Kit found and empty tunnel and proceeded down to it. Angel kept her thoughts to herself but… Kit was more excited to be here than she was. It's true that Angel did have Danians in her deck, and she liked them. But unlike her Overworlders, she just felt like she had no connection to them. In the Overworld Angel was exploring the land her father had told her about, herein Mount Pillar… she walking about in a place her Danian-fan, mother had never set foot in. Down here, Angel felt like a complete stranger to everything she saw.

Angel followed Kit, hiding behind corners and down empty hallways to avoid detection. "Do you think they can sniff us out?" Angel asked.

Kit stopped in his tracks at her question. "They're bugs, not bloodhounds, Angel!"

"But regular ants can detect intruders by how their pheromones smell. Danians are really similar to-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know that too!" Kit was whispering so they wouldn't get caught. He'd gotten lucky in the Underworld (for some reason), and he didn't want to push his luck twice! But he didn't want to be mean with Angel. "Sorry. We talked about this, anything happens we port and contact. I promise, if anything happens, I'll get you out, Angel." Kit blushed, but Angel was just glad she hadn't annoyed him with freaky facts.

The Danians had built their home up from the ground, and used every bit of ground to do it! To Angel and Kit, Mount Pillar took on two different appearances. To Kit, it was a potential prison. Wide, dug out tunnel and towers of stone and dirt meant for holding in trespassers. Only the strategic and tough would call getting a good scan around here a breeze. He and Angel would have to be clever. But to Angel, This was nothing short of a castle! Winding tunnels with endless rooms to explore, like an ant-farm built to human scale (actually she and Kit were among the smallest things around here). She didn't want to admit it, but Angel shared a bit of her mother's interest with ants!

So as the two Chaotic Players traveled through the might structure, they were both different kinds of 'antsy'. Kit led the way, always sliding up against the walls and peering around corners carefully of his glasses. Angel followed, in awe over the place, not really paying attention to what Kit was doing.

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Kat walked out of the BattleDrome with an air of confidence. Her fellow Underworld players lined up outside the drome and high-fived her as they walked past. She made her way with her growing ego all the way to where Manny's experiment was still in progress. The entire a table was a mess of at least a dozen of each kind of food you could get. Manny wasn't quitting his experiment no matter what. He wanted to see if he would be sick of food in his Earth body if he really stuffed himself here in Chaotic.

Kat wasn't even grossed out as she approached the table. She just grabbed a seat and kicked her feet up onto the table. Manny didn't even see her over the pile of food.

"Attention Bottomless Pit!" Kat called over the food mountain. "You are in the presence of a Chaotic Underworld favorite around here! Three wins a row thank you very much."

"You're welcome…" Manny droned chewing on a hot dog and pizza he was shoving into his mouth at the same time.

Kat took that as permission for her to brag more. Like she needed it. "Both were Overworlders. They got close, but close isn't the win. I've just been saving those new scans for back-ups now, I rule the Drome!" Manny's focus however, was on a plate of tacos and a gumbo sized soda to wash them down.

Looking over, Kat saw that she was being ignored. So she tried a different tactic. "Ya know, most of the Creatures I beat today were _Mipedians._ Now I have my own opinions about that tribe, but seriously! What's that say about them?"

Moving onto a burger, Manny finally said. "It says that even a newbie Underworlder can have a lucky day." At that Kat slammed her fist down in anger, the result being the vibrating table hitting Manny's elbow and smashing the entire, messy sandwich all over his face and shirt.

Kat was miffed because not only had Manny ruined her happy mood, he had insulted the Underworld Tribe. And Manny was ticked because not only did Kat insult the Mipedian Tribe, she had ruined his burger! As their glares harden on each other, even the people at nearby tables who heard the argument guessed at what would happen next.

"The Drome!" They both declared.

* * *

 **Back at Mount Pillar….**

 **Angel's POV**

It's not the Overworld, but the Danian homeland is amazing in its own way. These massive tunnels dwarf the passageways in the Mipedian Fortress, and there's more of a natural earthiness to it. It's not all underground (well, technically…), but even the parts that have been built up look the same as the ones on the ground floor!

"What is it about this place, Kit, that makes it so… Majestic!" I might as well admit it: I love every bit of Perim! Oh gosh, if Mom could ever-

"Kit?" I looked around. I didn't see him. "Kit?" _Oh no, don't tell me we got separated!_ Kit has all the info to get in and out of here inside his head. He's been asking other Chaotic Players, and, even though no one says how far they've come, Kit does know where the Gear we want is! "Oh man! Oh man! Oh-wait!" Unlike last time, I had my scanner and could easily contact Kit. "Thank goodness." My scanner was also safe in my pocket, no more wild, crate rides for me. _Though in hindsight, it was pretty fun!_

My scanner is in my hand when I hear a sound down the tunnel. It sounds like… many… marching… feet! I don't want to look away from the direction of the marching in case they see me and I have to port out fast. So backed up more, and then more, then where I was expecting a wall was a door and… _Déjà vu!_

I kept my mouth shut this time as the ride down was much bumpier and dirt was kicked up into my face. Unlike the Mipedians, the Danians seem to prefer their tunnels _all_ natural! So I tumbled, hit my head, spat out dirt, and repeated over and over until I was finally spat out!

"Ow…" I groaned. This time hurt a lot more than the Mipedian tunnels. I was able to stand up and open my eyes within a few seconds. And when I opened my eyes I saw something amazing! "Whoa…" I was on the side of a cliff overlooking a giant cavern. Surrounded by water, glowing among some huts by its base, was Jade Pillar. The name says it all; this pillar was built by the Danians out the gemstone from around the area shining brightly green. Completely mesmerized, I stepped closer and closer to the pillar. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen!

Right when I was in the middle of a step, I was yanked back. "Oof!" My first thought was that Kit had found me and pulled me back to get my attention, the next second I thought a Danian might have found me. "Hey!" I exclaimed.

However, the voice and face that answered me was not Kit's nor was it a Danian. "Are you an idiot? You almost walked right over a cliff! Whos does that!?" It was a human boy. He looked to be around my age, if not a little older than me. He had one angry, purple eye that showed while half of his face was covered with swept over brown hair, and a purple watch cap that concealed the rest of his head. He was also wearing a zip-up mauve sweat jacket and a pair of dirty-grey pants over some old sneakers. Over-all her looked mad… and kind of cute.

Looking at where I had been walking behind him, I saw that he was right. I **had** almost walked off the cliff in a daze! "I… I…" It was like I couldn't remember how to talk. Not only had I been caught off guard, I had been caught by this boy. "I… guess Jade Pillar was just so beautiful to me and-"

"Well your trip to La-La Land just almost cost you your own code!" He shouted. "You've got keep your brain turned on. This isn't a museum, you'll be shot on sight if you're spotted here!"

I don't like being yelled at, much less being yelled at so rudely. I glared back at the boy, but I knew he was right. _And this isn't even the first time for me._ "You're right, I know that. And thank you for saving me."

This seemed to catch him off-guard. He turned around and kept talking to me gruffly. "D- um… um… It was nothin'! Nothin' worth thanking a bloke for anyway." _Is that an Australian or British accent?_

"I think it is." I was starting to talk to him more easily. "You didn't have to do it, but you did anyway."

"Well, it was strategy." He stated, turning back to me. "Can't have you giving away _my_ hiding place before the big guys show up." Not the most charming guy I've ever met, but he has my attention.

I asked him. "What big guys?"

"Returnin' troops from the Flame Gate." He said. "You _do_ know about the City of the Elements, right?"

I felt my intelligence being insulted. Placing my hands on my hips automatically, I said. "Yes, I know about it!"

He looked down at me like a know-it-all. "An associate of mine gave me the info that one of the guards is coming back to report to the Queen. Don't know what he's got to say, but a guard has got to be worth somethin' in a Chaotic match." He then started to walk off.

 _Oh no, you don't, buster!_ "Care if a newbie tags along?" I asked, daring him to tell me no. I'd just follow him anyway!

He looked back and smiled again. "Ain't we all newbies at this point?"

He was making a joke, that surprisingly I laughed at. "I guess so!" I said as I ran to catch up with him.

* * *

 **Back with Kit… (his POV)**

As I peered over the next corner, I saw a squad of guards standing together that just walked away from their posts. "Alright," I whispered back to Angel, "You're going a great job with this stealth-thing, Angel. Just a little farther and we-"

When I turned my head to see behind me, something was missing. "Angel? Angel? You better be playin' me." I looked back down the tunnel, and unfortunately saw only my own footprints. "Uh –oh…"

I pulled out my scanner to call Kat and Manny, but they weren't answering! "What the?" What were they doing?! "Great!" I groaned. "Now I have to save Angel this time…" I sighed. "I thought she was smarter than Kat!"

Then I thought: _Wait a minute. Yes, she is!_ I went over rendezvous points with Angel over and over before this! "She can port back if she gets into trouble, no sense in calling it off now when I'm so close to some choice BattleGear."

 _Now I sound like Kat._ "Then again… Friends are supposed to help each other. Angel's not helpless, but she doesn't know much about here yet."

I have to think this one out carefully. _Lose the Gear and find Angel, or go look for Angel and call off the whole trip?_ Losses versus gains; practicality versus morality. I stood there thinking for a while.

* * *

 **A/N: Kit Kalinkas! But he is the thinker of the group.**

 **What do you think of angel's new acquaintance? Who do you think he is?**

 **Find out in Part two!**


	11. The Ants and The Players Pt 2

**A/N: Previously... I left you guys waiting for a much longer time than i expected and I'm sorry for that. But here's a reward for the steady reading:**

 **Angel's on her first trip to Mount Pillar with Kit. Guess what? She got herself lost!**

 **But now she's met this new boy who she thinks is cute.**

 **Some of you have guessed at his heritage and some of you are partially right. But let's look a little further to see if this crush is worth investing time in.**

* * *

 ** _Meanwhile…_**

 **Angel's POV**

I did promise Kit that I would port back and call him if we got split up. Then I met this guy and… My sense of adventure is calling me! This guy, brown-hair-and-ski-hat, hasn't told me his name yet, which makes him more mysterious. And…he is kinda cool. I can tell he knows this place. He seems to have the path of the patrols down by memory, and he has a hiding spot in each place to avoid being spotted. He looks back and says to me. "Stay close, got it kid?" And he's rude…

"For the record, I'm PerimPride." I won't give him my name until he acts nicer.

"Ah, it is? Good for you." He says uninterested.

 _Okay, so conversation is dead._ Guess the game really is super important to guys like him. Unlike me, he doesn't seem to be looking around. But there is so much to see! _And if I want to keep seeing it, I have to learn how to play and survive._ So Cranky-boy takes the lead.

We manage to make our way down, unseen by any Danians. Taking cover beside a giant jade, he says "Now watch an' learn, love. This little meeting can give us scans an' info."

"Sounds good to me." I don't know what to say to this guy that won't tick him off. So just agreeing is my best option.

And he still looks off-put by what I said. Now I'm the one getting annoyed, "What?"

He says nothing, and then. "Chad. The name's Chad." And he turns around to scope the area. _Your name isn't really my problem with you at the moment._ Yet, somehow it's still nice to know.

* * *

From one side of Jade Pillar comes three Danians. Lore, and two mandiblors. I know about Lore, from my mom's deck. He's like- no, he is the best Muge to the Danian Tribe. He has the ability to drain an opponent's energy and make it his own! If I can I would definitely like a scan of him. From the other side of the pillar, comes two more mandiblors escorting a much bigger one! "That's Wamma." Chad whispers pointing him out to me.

Wamma looks… fat. He's much taller and has a lot more mass in his stomach region than any other Danian I had ever seen. And he also looks… angry. I don't know why, but from his card I have in my real deck, I would have thought Wamma would be a happier persona. I remember what Chad said about him being a guard up at the Fire Gate, maybe his perma-frown is connected to that? At any rate it would also be cool to have a new scan of a creature mom used to have! _I now know my targets!_

"One at time." Chad orders me. "I'll get the fat one, you take the old dude."

"What?" I jerk my head up at him. _I draw the line at bossy! This guy is so not as cool as I first thought he was._

"Hush up!" He orders. "And listen in. Ya might learn somethin'."

My hand automatically clenches into a fist, but I hold it down in favor of overhearing what the Danians are talking about.

It's Lore who speaks first. "Alright Wamma, let's make this report quick: What news of the Fire Gate since the Human's Return?"

"Virtually, none." Wamma responds. "Not a single best has so much as a single pest has been spotted coming close. I'm guessing the passageway from here to the Forgotten City is forgotten by their kind."

Lore shook his head. "That is all well and good, but Queen Azil is interested in the humans. She heard of her mother's encounter with one and wishes to make contact without disturbing the activities of the Hive!"

"No humans!" Wamma roared. "Especially female humans! They are not to be trusted."

"I will put that suggestion in my report to the Queen." Said Lore. "A male human as a desirable liaison. But it may surprise her that such a thing will be coming from you! Years ago wasn't it you and a human named-"

"Do NOT say HER name!" Wamma screamed in complete rage. The staff he was shaking out in the air, blasted a ray of yellow light the bounced off several jade shards until it became directed at us! Chad and I both gasped, and I grabbed the back of his hoodie in time to throw us both out of the way!

And in plain sight of secret meeting…

The all of us; the mandiblors, Lore, Wamma, Chad and myself all froze on eye contact. It took a moment, then Wamma pointed an accusatory claw at us, "Humans! I hate humans!" At which Chad and I took off running as several blasts of I-don't-know-what were sent our way.

"Way to go, girlie!" Chad yells at me.

"Would you prefer to be code? Cause it's not too late for that." I challenge. We take cover under too separate boulders. Wamma is in pursuit of us along with the guards.

"Get the boy, but blast that female into code!" Wamma orders. "The females are the least trustworthy of all humans!"

 _What does this guy have against girls?_ I'm reminded of the Boy's Tree House Club, it cost Manny a few social points when we were five, but he didn't join if they wouldn't let me. And we won the Battle of the Water balloons that year. I look over at Chad, he may be a jerk, but he's jerk who knows this place. "Chad, what's the quickest-"

But it looks like chad already decided to bail. He's long gone and I'm left here being fired upon. "Jerk." I spit out. I look farther ahead and there he is, rolling and dodging out of the line of fire. _Just port out, Angel. If kangaroo-boy is half as smart as he thinks he is, he'll be just fine._ Then a second voice in the back of my head nags at me: _He helped you in. Wouldn't that make you the jerk if you didn't return the favor?_

Voice of morality, you are going to kill me one day.

More of the attention is on Chad who keeps moving, so much energy is really on him that I think even Wamma has figured I ported out already. I know Chad is headed for the rocks, his eyes keep focusing and coming back to one spot over there. So I just need to wait for him to get close enough, then I'll distract the guards so he can get away and I'll port myself back to Chaotic. Easy enough… If I can avoid being blasted.

"We have him cornered!" One of the mandiblors call out.

I take that as my cue and jump out from my hiding place! On top of the rock I call out, "Hey, Wamma! What do you have against human girls!?"

All eyes become directed at me. For the briefest moment, all heads turn to Wamma who gives out no word. _Why did he stop firing? Can he be in shock?_ I'll have to goad him further if I want to get all the attention away from back-stabbing Chad. Waving my arms around I say, "Hey, you guys know what game humans play with ants back home? SQUASH!"

That did it.

Every single attack becomes focused on me, and I begin my own duck and run. I hide behind every boulder, but never for more than three seconds. Either they get blown up or the mandiblors are always getting closer. I can leap and run even faster than Chad, only problem is I don't know how to get out of here. Until finally, I'm cornered against a wall myself. Turning around, Wamma and all four mandiblors are in a semi-circle around me at point blank. I reach behind my back, ready to press my return to Chaotic button on my scanner. Now that they're far enough away, "Shall we shoot, sir?" one of the mandiblors ask Wamma. Wamma never looks away from me, particularly my face. I'm guessing that from how I'm standing he doesn't notice my hand reaching for my scanner.

"You look…" Wamma starts to say.

A buzz noise interrupts him. And not a buggy buzzing noise. A mechanical, porting noise! And it's Chad who's suddenly standing right beside me and tightly grasping my upper arm. "I just want you to know," he says to me, "I hate you for this." And he ports me out Justas the weapons fire.

The next time I blink, Chad lets me go and we are standing in the middle of an underground-style library. "Gee, thanks." I say in monotone. I'm not sure if I should be grateful, or angry at him right now.

"That's how you thank someone who saved your code?"

I gape at this guy's nerve. "Save my nothing is more like it! I saw you bail on me when we were being fired at! The only reason you were able to get away is because I took their attention off of you."

"I didn't ask you to help me!" He objects.

"It's called being a decent human being! You should give it a try one time!"

"ENOUGH!" A louder voice boom s over the two of us. Up by a stone railing is an orange Danian with white hair and dressed in a tan robe with some kind of mugic medallion around his neck. He starts coming down, and in a normal voice he says, "I'm fairly sure the rules of the library are universal. But, you should know the most basic rule of a hiding place is to be quiet."

Chad just looks away, annoyed at this Danian's chiding. I smile at him being told off. "Well now, is this the comrade you went back to save?" He asks looking at me.

"She's no comrade. I only brought her with me cause she has a little talent in making good jokes." Chad responds, putting his hands in his pockets.

Placing my hands on my hips, I turn to Chad and say. "Oh, good. If you had said it was because I saved your sorry butt, you'd have be disappointed cause that will _not_ be happening again."

Chad sneered, and said nothing back. _Victory for me!_

"Yes, that does sound like you, Chad." The Danian said to him. _And that's game!_ Since Chad went and sat down in a chair. "Allow me to introduce myself, little one. I am Raznus, Keeper of the Tomes."

I smile up at Raznus. Unlike chad, I feel like since he's given a nicer impression that I can be nice back. "And I'm Angel. How do you know each other?"

"Chad wandered in several times. He already had his own wanted poster by the time he found my library, and my tribe can be rather: shoot first, and question later." Raznus explained. "But I've been curious about the human's sudden return. Between us both we exchange information, places for Battle Gear, Locations and Creatures. While Chad does some sleuthing in Chaotic for me on why the connection has been restored."

Chad snorted from his place in the corner. "And just so you have a heads up, Razzy! Wamma said no girls are allowed in Mount Pillar."

Raznus only sighed, "Well, that does little to surprise me." He seemed to be talking more to me than to Chad. "Believe it or not, Wamma once had a dear friend among the Chaotic Players, a female around your age no less. She was devoted to the Danian Tribe, and was always willing to help Wamma. His best friend."

"Was he upset that she never came back after the Wrip Wave?" I asked. It seemed the most obvious.

"Sadly, no." said Raznus. "She was gone for solons before that. While there were still Players around, she just stopped coming one day. I guess Wamma feels like she abandoned him."

The sound of Chad's fist hitting hard on the table cut off the conversation. "I don't need to hear all this!" He turned and yelled at us. "Raznus, I brought you that green rock to study like you wanted. I'll just take my payment and go."

Raznus pointed up the stairs to an office. "Help yourself, it's right in there." As Chad walked away from us (finally), Raznus said. "I have a complicated relationship with the higher-ups in my tribe. They refuse to give me access to any other rooms save for here. I am a scholar at heart, but do need to experiment when I am surrounded by knowledge."

"I can understand that." I tell him. Sitting around and only reading about amazing places is fine for relaxing, but it's never the same as living it. "What I don't understand is why you tell a human with such a bad attitude all the good stuff about your tribe."

To that Raznus responded, "Chad is… a complicated being. True that he often seems angry, but he never objects to what I ask of him. And what I hope he sees is the good parts of Mount Pillar, and gains them favor with Chaotic Players. Though… I find you, Angel, a much less trying child."

I laugh. I got a compliment at Chad expense, and I feel no shame in it. "Thanks! But some Creatures might disagree with you, Raznus."

He smiled down at me. There's something else I like about Raznus. I don't know what it is, I can just pin it down to that he's no ordinary Danian Muge. "Also, thanks for not immediately blasting me or kicking me out, today's been pretty rough for me."

"Then why not make it easier? I still want to open up parts of Mount Pillar to humans, take a look around my library, scan a few mugics. If they can help you learn something about us, it would no question make _my_ day."

* * *

Chad must have ported out as soon as he got his scan. I hadn't managed to get my scan of Lore or Wamma, but Raznus was kind enough to let me have a scan of him, along with the mugic Chad got and one he pointed out to me in the library. Raznus said that because the Danians are so heavily focused on military, hardly any time is devoted to history or mugic, not least not by comparison. Thus, his library is often empty and always open as a quick Location scan right into the tribe. He let me take that one too.

With a full scanner, and what felt like time to spare, I must have spent an hour conversing with Raznus, when I got a call from All-H'earring. _I forgot about Kit!_ I quickly answered, "Kit?"

"Angel, where are you?" Looking at the background, I could see that Kit was back in Chaotic. "I had to finish the Scan Quest alone, and I port back to this mess!"

"What mess?" Kit turns his scanner for me to see a crowd of Chaotic Players cheering loudly at the Drome monitors. It looks like a Mudeenu is in heavy combat with a Takinom in a grassy plain.

"Kat and Manny are having a beat-down!" Kit said. "I'm glad you're alright, but can you port back here now? It's escalating fast, and depending on who wins we may need to do some damage control."

 _Oh, he's right!_ "Okay. Stay put, I'll be right there!" I turn it off.

"It appears that you have been summoned." Raznus observes.

"Uh-huh," I nod. "Two of our friends don't take well to losing. It's part of my job to keep the peace."

Somehow that made Raznus laugh. "Then I understand your rush. But… may I see your scanner before you go? Humans have been around for years and I have never yet held one myself."

"Um…" I only hesitate because I've learned just how important this little device is. "Sure, I'll trust you, Raznus."

He turns the little red machine over in his hands. Weighing it, pressing the buttons that don't work for him, and feeling its texture before handing it back to me. "I don't suppose you know how your scanner works, Angel?"

I shake my head saying, "No, sorry. That kind of thing is beyond my knowledge. By human science I don't even know how me being here is possible."

Raznus looked interested in that. "Interesting… Another unsolved mystery of Perim and Chaotic."

I responded. "Another puzzle to solve between Creatures and Chaotic Players."

With that bid Raznus farewell and returned to the Chaotic-between world.

By the time I did, I was in there to see the end of the match close with a draw. Now neither Manny nor Kat were speaking to each other, their arms crossed and looking grumpily in opposite directions.

"Mipedians rule." Said Manny.

Kat said back, "Underworlders rule more." And nothing else.

Sitting next to each other, soaking up the tension, Kit whispered behind his back to me, "Just like we rehearsed, okay?"

"Okay." I whispered back. I cleared out my throat and said. "Hey, who wants milkshakes and pizza?"

The feuding friends dropped their grudge and raised their hands, "We do!"

The Everything-In-Perim Pizza was brought to us first. Manny and Kat each grabbed two and started munching away.

"See?" Kit said, helping himself to a piece. "Just give them their favorite food and all else is forgotten." He added quietly, "That's how I trained our puppy."

I chuckled and gave Kit a thumbs up for his genius plan. We saw our shakes coming over and waved to call the robot. He had each of our favorites right there on the tray. A hand suddenly came up from beneath it, sending the sweat, cold drinks flying and soaking our beloved pizza! And all over the four of us!

"What the freak!" Kat shouted, standing up. We all glared at the kid who had done it. I recognized him right away in the purple sweatshirt and sinister smirk as he walked away.

I growled between teeth. "Chad." _So not cool._

* * *

 **Truth about life: not everyone is going to be fair or nice.**

 **And Chad isn't either one of them! Why? That'll take some further explanation...**

 **What's up for the gang next time? Where will they go? Who will they meet? Will Angel NOT get lost for a change?**

 **Let me know if this is worth continuing!**


	12. Chaotic Neutrals Part 1

**To all readers: My comptuer is broken and I will need to get a new one. Until then there will be a long period between updates and/or possible new stories. I can still respond to PMs and take responses, though anything will might be a ways away. Sorry, but please enjoy the story!**

* * *

 _ **Chaotic Neutrals**_

 **Angel's POV**

I began seeing the battles in the Dromes as the equivalent to a gladiator arena. Crowds of people in Chaotic sat and watched if they weren't going to Perim or having their own matches, cheering on the combatants whether they knew them or not. Manny, Kit and Kat would always cheer vocally, but I more sat behind and looked on. I knew I would never fully understand it, but I was just so curious as to how battles worked here. Conditions and weather were real in the Dromes, but how the negation of pain was applied was beyond me! I just finally figured that if nobody was being hurt, there really wasn't any problem. Except… I still haven't been challenged.

Except for when Kat challenged all of us for our first day, I didn't receive any challenges, even when the others did. I knew that in addition to Kat, Manny had challenged and been challenged by at least four other players. Last I heard, Kit had made friends and enemies in about 3 different Dromes. While Kat… she was practically carrying the Underworld banner and gathering followers right and left! Me? My adventuring had been plenty enough, but no one aside from our little group so much as talked to me. I was putting in the effort for new scans and traveling through Perim to get them, but I felt like I was being left out on half the game.

"Beep! Beep! Beep!" Manny came walking up to my table, talking in his robot voice. "Analysis complete: Sista in the dumps! Priority level: Blue. Engage." He sat down across from me while I laughed at his antics.

"Good to see ya, Manny. How did it go?" 'It' referring to a trade he'd been doing with another Mipedian player.

"Meh." He shrugged. "It was fair, I guess. But now you! You're supposed to be PerimPride, not BlugonBumer."

I do appreciate Manny's way of trying to cheer me up. "I just… I dunno, maybe it's not even really a problem."

"It's got you just sitting around a staring at a soda for an hour. I'd call _that_ a problem." said Manny. "Spill it, Majors."

I should have known. Manny's been with me through every odd phase, every awkard situation (wait, he caused most of those…), and every low point in my life, if anyone can tell when I'm seriously off my game: it's him. "Well…" I tried to explain. "We've all been having a good time in Chaotic so far and…"

"And?" Manny pushed.

"And you, Kat and Kit have all been doing great in your Drome battles."

"So have you!"

My face dropped to my Are-You-Kidding face. A face Manny, despite occasional observation, is oblivious to. _Manny is Manny!_ "Which time?" I asked him.

Manny opened his mouth like he was about to start in a bold description, but, for once, nothing came out of his mouth. "Just a sec!" he said. He sat down and started messing up his hair trying to recollect a memory. I went back to drinking my soda. Manny's eyes lit up as he looked at my unchanging expression, and again nothing came out.

 _I'll give him one minute, tops._ Two more times Manny looked like he remembered something, but couldn't utter so much as a syllable.

Until finally, he admitted. "Angel…. I can't remember the last time you battled in Chaotic."

"That's because I haven't." I told him.

Shocked, Manny exclaimed, "What?"

I said. "Other than Kat, no one has challenged me. We've been here for almost two weeks now, and I've only been in the Dromes once."

That's basically it. I've been putting in the work to be challenged, yet no one has even asked me to. Manny's face twisted in disbelief, then it shaped itself back into a look of understanding.

"Well, I guess that is kind of a downer." He said. "So why don't _you_ issue someone a challenge?"

I stopped mid-slurp. To be honest… I hadn't thought of that. All my friends had gotten people who came to them, so I just figured I would wait my turn. I looked to the side, feeling so embarrassed even though it was Manny I was talking to. "Um… I guess, I figured I could wait?"

Manny shook his head. "Oh no, you're done waiting, girl. I'm going to help you issue a challenge and get you you out of this soda-watching-waiting slump!"

"But what if-" I started to say, then I stopped myself. There was something else I was afraid of. And I really didn't want Manny to know.

Luckily, he ignore my hesitation and pulled me over to one of the 'selection' tables. (A/N: Do Not know what they are really called. Sorry.)

* * *

Somehow, Manny had decided that my non-challenge streak was an all-around crisis and rallied the twins into it. I was sitting down, looking at other players' stats while my friends talked above me.

"Oh! Do that one!" Kat pointed down at an Mipedian player. "Totally trounced that guy! Believe me, it will be an easy win."

Kit pushed over, next to his sister. "It's not always good to target the easy players though. Angel, the better rep means the more valuable cards and locations you can get later on. Look, here's another Overworld player. Her deck looks pretty up to scratch, so all you'll need to do is plan and go in ready for a fight."

Manny made a raspberry noise. "Pftttt! Dudes, don't slow her roll. Ange, you're good against Underworlders, just beat the lava out one and the rest of your challenges will be coming easy-peasy."

Both Kit and Kat glared over at Manny. "Whoa. Whoa." Kit said slowly. "Easy from beating an Underworlder? Care to rephrase that, Manny?"

"Nope!" Manny said, oblivious to the twins' glares. "I knows ma girl's strengths. She buried your sister on day one. How you ask? Overworld vs. Underworld. Ka-Blamo!"

Manny's over-the-stop and loud explanation had gathered two crowds around us. One was behind Kit and Kat, looking annoyed, while the other was backing up Manny with snide looks. I could practically feel the tension rising! It didn't take long for one of the on-lookers to react.

"Hey, what gives you the right to say Underworlders are weaker than Overworld?"

"Yeah!" Another shouted. "I've been wiping the floor with the Mipedians since I got here! That tribe sucks!"

That made Manny mad. "Oh yeah? I know you, you're LavaLady898! In all you're battles you either hide and let the Location do all the work or completely rely on your Gear! But I guess it's just like an Underworlder to talk the talk and not walk the walk!" _That's really the best diss I've ever heard him give._ But I really don't like where this is going.

"So true!" called a Mipedian supporter.

The arguing went on and on. Until it wasn't just Mipedians against Underworlders, but all general Overworld dwellers vs. all general Underworld! I tried talking to Kat, Kit and Manny, but over the many voice echoing around Chaotic, it was impossible to get them to listen.

"Thieving Underworld scum!"

"Arrogant Overworld tyrants!"

"Bone-brained barbrians!

"Cold-blooded creepers!"

"Overrated Overlords!

"Frankenstein rejects!"

Until, finally I'd had enough. "SHUT IT ALREADY!" The entire room went quiet. Except for Manny muffled laugh. I said, "Look, the rest of you go back to whatever it is you were doing. My _friends_ were just suggesting on who I should challenge." And more directly to my three friends I said, "And guys? Imput appreciated, but I need to decide this on my own. My deck is mixed too, so I'm not really on one tribe's side or another."

"But your deck is _mostly_ Overworld." Kat pointed out.

One guy I had never even seen before came and pointed in my face. "That makes you a two-faced, Overworlder!"

Before I could say anything back, Manny slapped the guy's hand away, "Hey, back off!"

"Who's gonna make me?" he challenged.

"How about Vinta, Ghatup and Siado?"

"Bring it, nerd!"

* * *

In a short amount of time, it seemed that all of Chaotic had learned about Manny's match. His opponent, the one who pointed a finger at me turned out to be a Danian player known as RockItRoy. Manny assembled his deck among Mipedian and Overworld supporters. While the twins went over to listen in on RockIt with the others Underworld and Danian players.

Me?

I sat at my table. Alone. While all my friends planned to destroy each other. I had even lost Kit! The most rationale-minded person had gone over screaming for war alongside his sister. Feeling depressed, I opted to sit out of this, switching my soda for a chocolate Shimark Shake and watch the madness unfold. I sighed, "This is gonna end in blood." Plus, a possible break up over a meaningless fight. I've seen this before…

Another voice came up chuckling. "I wouldn't worry about that." This voice was different, in that it wasn't a kid's. I looked across from me to see an adult! I have seen adults around here, a handful at most. The Stranger-danger I we all learn in elementary school kind of kept a boundary from any of us actually talking to any of them outside Chaotic matches. "There is no chance of anyone losing blood inside a Drome. Plus, this kind of thing has happened before."

The guy just hesitated before taking seat across from me. I stared back at him, keeping my straw in my mouth and wondering what exactly I should say. The atmosphere was awkward enough with ferocious screams and taunts flying behind us. This guy looked like he belonged in an office, not a battle arcade. He had blackish, combed over hair that almost matched his eyes. He was also dressed in what looked like a casual business suit, which seemed to clash with his bright and welcoming way of talking.

Breaking the silence he said, "Sorry. I forgot to introduce himself! I'm Kristopher Prentum."

Good manners kicked in and I smiled before telling him, "Nice to meet you. I'm…" I debated whether to tell him I was PerimPride or Angel Majors.

He answered for. "Angel Majors, right?"

I nearly tipped over my milkshake in surprise! _Is this guy a stalker or something? How did he know my name? I need to give him a piece of my mind, then I'll run over to tell Manny about this creep! Or maybe Kat?_ Apparently noticing my concern, Mr. Prentum waved held up his hands and laughed awkwardly. "Whoa, whao! It's actually okay. I'm sort of a monitor here in Chaotic. I helped send out all the names to the new players and I happened to remember yours."

All suspicious thoughts ceased in my head. The way he explained that was very sincere, and it did make some sense. I guess I also felt sort of relieved that there _was_ a higher authority here in a place that was mostly kids. "Oh," I said, feeling embarrassed. "I see. Then… should you be doing something to stop all this?" I gestured to the two sides of fans behind me.

Mr. Prentum simply shrugged. "Like I said, this is really nothing. Chaotic Players have been putting on this debate forever, it was never solved then it's not likely to be decided now."

"That's true, I guess." Admitingly, if there was no fighting over Tribe preference, a lot of Chaotic's thrill would be lost. "But doesn't this seem like it's already gotten out of hand?"

"I'll be watching for anything serious. But one of the rules of my job is that I can't interfere unless the well-being of a player is at risk." Mr. Prentum then changed the subject. "And besides, I am quite curious as to why you, an Overworlder, are here all by yourself instead of joining in the fray!"

From the sound of it, this man was actually enjoying the conflict. Which did hit a nerve for me. "Because my three friends are at the center of all this nonsense." I said. "Preference for one tribe or another I can get. The right to speak your mind, I get. But now that we know Perim is real, it seems more like we're acting like the Creatures who are the ones really going to war."

The man's casual smile did not change. "And?"

"And?" I repeated. "And this is stupid! The war in Perim is not our problem. I don't see why anyone would take a fight so seriously when they don't even remember what the fight is about! Manny, Kat and Kit were just helping me choose someone to challenge and now it's deteriorated into **this**!"

Behind us, the two groups were following their champions to one of the BattleDromes. I could see Manny looking straight ahead with his game face, while on the other side, Kit and Kat were right behind the big-mouth Danian guy. Putting my hands between my head and shaking it side to side, I said. "Oh, somebody isn't going to be happy when they lose."

It was then than Mr. Prentum's smile dropped into a look of concern. "You're really concerned about your friends in this aren't you Angel." He said.

"Yeah," I admitted. "I don't know, maybe it's just me. I love going to Perim… I just don't know how things are supposed to work here in Chaotic." I hadn't even confessed this to Manny. Earth is my home, Perim my dreamland, but Chaotic? Perim is the place of my childhood stories, the Wonderland where Dad would tell me on drives to school and when he came home. He did mention Chaotic a few times, but it was only in the context that what was happening in Perim was the real adventure. I know the rules of Perim. The ways of Chaotic? It's all a blank space…

Mr. Prentum looked sympathetic, then he said, "Hey, don't act like you sitting here and you're friends being out there is in any way your own fault. When a group this big gets excited, it can be easy to follow along when you really get involved. Your friends will be back once they cool down."

Now I laughed, a bit forced though. "Manny, the one battling, I think he just got upset because that other guy started picking on me. The twins… Kit might come back before Kat. I just want to understand why they've all gotten other challenges and I haven't."

"I think I saw your match, Angel. Intress vs. Chaor… since it was one of the first battles, everyone was watching!"

"And I was so excited!" I squealed. "I literally changed into Interess! I super scared of being hurt, but then I went through the whole battle and it was good!" I became a little more self-aware at that point. I gathered my self-control and looked the man in the eyes as I said. "My Dad taught me everything I know about Perim. Nothing could have prepared me for the Dromes."

I watched Mr. Prentum. He had been fairly talkative in our conversation, when he got quiet it became difficult to read his expressions. "Angel?" He asked me in a quiet tone. "Do you know why the tribes started fighting?"

"Um… not really." I told him. "My Dad said it was both the Underworld and the Overworld Tribe thought that the other had stolen the Cothica. But he also told me that in the past the Tribes had been stealing things like water supply and enslaving other tribemates. It's all kind of confusing." The truth was that Dad hadn't really finished all of his stories. "To me it just seemed that they always find a new reason to fight, sometimes not even a good reason.

"Perhaps that's it!" Mr Prentum suddenly brightened up. "Maybe you can't get into the Drome matches because you haven't really had the chance to really connect with a Creature! In your Drome match you did great, you just couldn't tap into Intress because you couldn't really get into her mind! You need a chance you get out of your own head and into another's!"

"You think?" I asked eagerly. More than finding a challenger, I wanted to figure out why I wasn't as into this place as my friends were.

"PerimPride, I challenge you to a match in the Crellan Drome. The conditions: you can only use scans you've gotten from Perim yourself."

But a challenge is still a challenge! "You're on!" I jumped up, excitedlu grinning.

* * *

Inside the Crellan Drome, I pulled up all the scans of the Creatures I had met in Perim. Mr. Prentum let me take my time choosing even once he was ready. "Remember," he said, "You're still you in there. The trick is to let them move the way your Creature is supposed to. Relax and give them the control. You'll be able to feel and sometimes even see what they have already."

"But how will I come back if I need to?" I asked. _I am such a scardey-cat in this place!_

Mr. Prentum answered respectfully, "Then your will can turn control back over to you. And I can tell, you have plenty of will-power!"

I smiled over at him, and looked at my board, finally relieved to get some real assurance and looked between my three Creatures. I had Ebberim, Ghatup and Frafdo. Since I fel like I was already friends with Ebberim I put her up first, followed by Ghatup and, finally, the grumpy Frafdo. Once I locked my deck, both all our Creatures appeared on the board.

Mr. Prentum had some pretty amazing Creatures. Like Mommark, Gespidan and even Maxxor! "I take it you're an Overworld Player." I observed.

"I thought you were too. But if stuck with our conditions, it looks like you've given the Mipedian Tribe a try."

As he said that, I remembered the day I met Ebberim and Ghatup. The music, the giant chest, meeting Iflar, running from the guards, and busting Mudeenu. It was a good memory. Then I remember some of the Underworld player's remarks against her tribe. At the time I hadn't thought of it, but they had no right to say those terrible things about her home! Chances are none of them have ever been there! They called her weak, disgusting and a liar. _I should have joined Manny in defending them!_ And Iflar?! He's the next King of the Tribe, he's been one of the nicest Creatures I've met since coming here! Mudeenu is the one getting nasty and trashing their reputation!

"Looks like someone found their spark!" My opponent grinned. Guess I'm pretty easy to read. "It's a risk to me, but why don't you attck first?" he offered.

"Gladly," I replied with a hint of anger.

Mr. Prentum spun his location deck, unperturbed. It landed on Kiru City. "Mommark attacks… Ebberim."

With that our scanners were taken down and a familiar ring of light formed around our feet. I felt myself changing. This time was different than Interess. My body seemed to get a bit colder, starting from my stomach and spreading out to my growing limbs. Green scales quickly grew all over me and I found myself wearing an outfit that Cleopatra might have owned! My fingers had also melded together into just four digits. I didn't check to see if I had a tail or not. I could also tell that face had changed, along with my hair.

I stood ready, with a face of determination that I could not imagine the real Ebberim ever having on her kind one. 'Mommark' stood across from me. "Ready to 'Get Chaotic?'" He asked.

"Bring it!" said Ebberim's voice.

The bright flash took over, and my sight gave wat to Kiru City.

 _To Be Continued..._

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ **Like I said, it will ba a while before part two!**

 **But here's some questions:**

 **Who is Kristopher Prentum, and why was he so eager to talk to Angel?**

 **Does he have a reason for trying to help her?**

 **Have any of you ever been in a situation like Angel is where you can't understand and feel alienated?**


	13. Chaotic Neutrals Part 2

**Long time no read! (Blehh...) Oh well! Hope everyone's liking the story!**

* * *

 **Angel/Ebberim's POV**

 _Ebberim is even more agile than Intress!_ I wasn't just able to move around the streets faster! I could climb the walls too! I could weave in and out through windows, under carts; swishing and swaying with as natural ease as water! _When I first met her, I thought Ebberim was only a retired warrior singing at the lounge. What she can do is amazing! Why would she give this up!_ Kiru City has plenty of buildings merchant carts and alleys to run through, I nearly forgot I was in the middle of a battle!

 _Oh shoot! Mr. Prentum!_

I ducked behind the corner of a building and peered out. I looked up and down the street, but it was deserted. Instinctively I panicked! _Where is he now? Is he watching and waiting for me to let my guard down! If so I should be code already! What do I do?! What am I- … doing?_ It suddenly felt like I'd just had a panic-attack. Sure, I was nervous at the start of this match but now there's this foreign emotion creeping into my head that says I never should have come here. _Is that… Ebberim?_

She was so calm when I met her back in Mipedian territory. Is she that afraid? Her Courage reads at a 50, not exactly high, but not all that low either. _I've never freaked out like this in my life! What could be bugging Ebberim so much that she can't concentrate here?_ I remembered what Mr. Prentum had said before we even started all this. I felt more like myself and the shakiness slipped away. "He hasn't attacked me because he's giving me time to get into her head. So, c'mon Ebberim let's see that in your mind."

I relaxed, closed my eyes and 'searched' for the cause of Ebberim's anxiety. I slipped back farther… and farther, until-

 _Ah, there she is._

 _I stood among my other young tribemates next to the out wall of the Academy. My father had been a guard in the palace and my mother is a muge. When tested, it was found that I had the makings of a Stalker. But I just barely slid by. Perhaps the council judges a small bit of talent and believes the Academy teachers can bring it out to its full potential?_

 _I mentally sigh and hope to the stars that they can. If I cannot play my part in this war… what kind of Mipedian am I?_

Her memory went ahead further, to a time when Ebberim was older.

 _It's no wonder Zhade got the highest score out of all the simulation training. He's leading this mission with me and two other stalkers, not typical for him to be working with others. Still he even designated three critical points for reinforcements to come from while he sneaks into the Arsenal. Kiru City is such a different place. The buildings all go straight up and purpose is that it limits a Mipedian's ability to hide outside of our invisibility._

 _I just want to have one good look at this city before we leave here. It is my first time out of Mipedian Territory and-_

 _No! How could be so clumsy as to slip?_

 _I feel my body shift from invisible to visibly falling! Just as I catch the eyes of a guard!_

 _I ruined the entire mission!_

I snap back to my own senses. That was so trippy, but I really got something! Ebberim must have messed up on her first mission here, and now being in Kiru, or battles in general, makes her nervous. _She never said anything about this when I was talking to her._ Then again, I felt the same humiliation that Ebberim felt when she fell. "I'll bet that if she just had one more chance she wouldn't slip."

To prove it I went to the same exact building I saw in her memory. I climbed to the exact height that she did and _dug_ my nails in to a steady position. There! Now I couldn't even fall if I wanted to! Confident in my position, I then felt relaxed enough to look out. "Whoa…" I breathed in awe at the view. "Kiru City…" Even Ebberim's night vision had nothing on the City in the daytime. The sandstone buildings glimmered in the sunlight, down below the streets curved in and out change from stairs to smooth paths for as far as I could see. And at the very center, most imposing and impressive of all was Maxxor's Castle.

Briefly I wondered what it would be like _inside_ that magnificent structure when-

"Wakey-wakey!" Mommark had a bazooka aimed at me from a lower roof. My gut clenched and I tried to scamper away! But my claws! They were in _too_ deep!

An electric-yellow light took over my vision, and I was standing back in the drom with Mommark on the other end.

When he turned back into Mr. Prentum he said, "Guess you got a little too deep into Ebberim's mind. What did you see?"

I felt mad at him for catching off guard when I was doing what he told me too, but I said. "She has a memory of Kiru City. Ebberim was on a mission and it didn't end well."

Mr. Prentum looked thoughtful and said, "Hm… Well maybe Ebberim wasn't the best first choice. I don't see her in battles often, maybe she's not so competent as a solo attacker."

I paused. _Oh… he did not!_ "Competent?" If I really am readable, I hope my anger is clearly on my face. "Whoa, she has the know-how of a good Stalker, and she's as loyal as the next Mipedian."

Smiling, he held up his hands. "Hang on, now! That was just to make sure you were still in the game. It seemed like Ebberim's personality took over your own. Angel, you need to make sure that it is _you_ battling. Ebberim's fights have already happened. So learn from what's there, but wield your Creature's powers to work to your advantage."

He's right. Back there I realized I became skittish and distracted by what I saw from Ebberim's memories. Guess I just let her take over, and it messed me up. I don't get scared! Not even when I climbed to the top of the observatory dome in elementary school and the adults couldn't get me down! I had a blast with that.

"Okay, Mr. Prentum. Thanks, and I'll keep that in mind for round two." My daydreaming cost me a Creature, if I lose one more the match is over and I'm code. I gotta be smarter about this one. But this time it's my opponent's turn to choose the location.

* * *

 **Meanwhile….**

 **No One's POV**

Manny, Kit and Kat were all walking together back to the table where they left Angel. "I tell ya I had him! I coulda won!"

"But you didn't." Kat deadpanned.

Kit spoke between them. "Guys, they called it: the match was a draw. There's no point arguing it now."

"But we _will_ be arguining it again!" Manny declared. "Right, Kat-scratch?"

"That is the worst nickname ever." Kat said. Then she realized. "Hey, did we forget something?"

Both Kit and Manny tried to think if they did. Finally Manny asked, "Like what?"

"Like: how did this even start?" she explained. "Fighting for the better tribe, the match!"

"Oh, no!" Kit hit his forehead in realization.

"How could we forget that?!" Manny began panicking.

Kat shook her head. "We are the worst friends ever."

The three of them ran back to the Selection tables and to their usual spot to see where Angel had gone to. "Could she have gone home mad at us?" Kit asked worriedly, when they regrouped.

Manny pulled out his scanner. "I'll port back and check."

"Oi! Stooges!"

Insulted, but knowing the call out was for them the three friends turned to see Chad, the dubbed dirt of Chaotic, lounging in a chair looking over their way. "In case ya haven't noticed, your Perim pride and joy is up there."

Chad pointed up to one of the screens showing Frafdo playing under Angel's screen name against a powerful Gespedan in the Riverlands.

"Well…" Kit said, being the first to sit down and watch. "Guess the problem solved itself."

* * *

 **Angel's POV**

Frafdo may the crankiest bird in existence, but man this bird has got eagle eyes! Frafdo's way of thinking is way different then Ebberim's. He couldn't be more at home in the Riverlands, as an added bonus- "I'm flying!" I cry out in a very un-Frafdo like way. "Wheee!"

"Don't forget to focus!" Gespedan calls to me from the riverbanks below. This guy is crazy fast. I have Gespedan in my online deck, so I have a basic idea of his stats. He shouts back, "Whatever you've got in your head combine it with Frafdo's skills. See if you can hit a moving target!" As for the guy wear his suit: I think Mr. Prentum is just having fun with this now.

We may be in the middle of a giant rushing river, but there are a few rocks stick out of the surface. He's somehow dashing in between them while firing Power Pulses at me. So One: I can't get a steady lock on his location for more than a second, and two: He's already hit me twice from my stalling.

 _Okay, maybe I'll let Frafdo take control this time._ He's a lot more uptight than Ebberim. And right not I need the marksman I saw at Cordac Falls. I relax, not as much as before, and try to look into Frafdo's mind.

 _I'm standing in an open field with grass blowing. Three targets are in front of me. Whipping out three arrows I release them from my bow all at once._

 _Then another to the trap activating behind on my left._

 _Then on my right._

 _Then from behind the second target._

 _Over and over, sometimes before I even look, each target has an arrow right in the center. "It's not just the eyes." I say, repeating an old teaching as I look upon my success. "An archer hears and predicts where his target will be next."_

Now that's specific! _Okay, so Frafdo uses all his senses when firing a target. Maybe I can use that to land a hit on Gespedan?_ That seems to be the idea.

There are four rocks that he favors to stop and shoot at me from. But he can run to any which one at random. _I just need to figure out the pattern in his movements and… Got him!_

My arrow flies with an extra pulse of energy! It hits a very surprised Gespedan square in the face! He slips back and falls into the rushing waters! "Yes!" I cheer and throw my fist with the bow in the air. I swoop down to ready for another shot when I see Gespedan fighting against the current to get onto the rocks again.

An idea hits me. (Or maybe it was Frafdo.)

Instead of hitting Gespidan I shoot and destroy anything he can use to get back up onto land! _If he can't get on steady ground, he can't run._ I blast every single rock before he can get close to it. Once he tries a Vine Snare and I still blow it up before he can pull himself over. "Can't run on water!" I call down.

Yet for someone being carried away by a river, Mr. Prentum was pretty confident with that grin on his face. He called back, "But I can run between the drops!"

He reaches out Gespedan's blue arm and cries out "Surge Song!" I hear a small melody play and a ray of white light shines over Gespedan. Don't ask me how he did it, he just did. He shot himself out of the water and slammed a fist right into my face!

It knocked me down, right out of the sky and crashing into the riverbank. I took serious damage, but I wasn't code somehow. _I've never heard of that kind of mugic._ Then I remember that I actually did. It was another of Dad's stories, the mugic super charges speed, courage and pretty much everything about a Creature. For a limited time they are basically unstoppable, then they're left drained. So if I can stretch this out long enough the match is mine!

As I was getting up, I saw Gespedan already standing over me. "You're good PerimPride." He said, raising Vlaric Shard. "But even us old players gotta keep our rep a-" Remember all that debris I smashed from the rocks? Apparently we got down river before all that did and… A tidal wave of mud, water and stone crashed from Gespedan.

I held my arms up in automatic defense! When nothing happened, I opened one eye to see Mr. Prentum back to normal while I coded down from Frafdo.

"Well, that was pure luck." I said looking down at my normal hands in disbelief.

Across the Drome, Mr. Prentum began laughing. "No such thing! Angel, I did not see that coming. Ha ha haa! Oh…" He seemed to calm down.

"Still… What does it say about me if I win on accident?" I asked.

He said, "It says a lot about a game called, 'Chaotic.' But the Location conditions are fair game too. The thoughts of the Creature, the conditions of the Location, and even the mugic can all turn a match around. You don't give up when a match looks hopeless, and, Angel, you don't sell yourself short when the unexpected happens. You just have to be ready for anything. Don't put yourself down before you've even tried!"

I smiled at my opponent. He had reminded me of something. "It's the Player, not the cards." Dad's motto.

Mr. Prentum nodded. "Just like I told Tom."

I looked back at my board.

Then I did a double-take back at Mr. Prentum.

I asked him. "Could you… repeat that?"

He folded his arms and shrugged. "I'm the one who told Tom that. You can't when with a quitter's attitude. And you certainly can't beat a…"

I drew in a breath and finished. " _Codemaster?_ You were Codemaster Crellan!?"

Mr. Prentum chuckled and shook his head before saying. "Was and _is_."

I blue light sparked and traveled in an electric flow up to the ceiling of the Drome. At the very center, the light met from all sides and shot down on Mr. Prentum. The light enveloped him, and ring of light rose up around him, revealing the costume and mask I saw on my very first day in Chaotic.

"No…"

* * *

 **Meanwhile…**

Kit, Kat and Manny had all been sitting at a table watching Angel's match, they each had decided to watch it supportingly in their own way. Kit sat looking on with an elbow propping up his face, Kat had ordered a giant soda, and Manny had gotten every kind of snack he could carry! Chad had even decided to watch, munching on a bag of pretzels in the far back.

And when Angel's opponent was revealed to be a Codemaster, they each had their own reactions as well. Kit fell out of his chair, Kat's soda came out her nose, Manny nearly choked, and Chad let a pretzel drop from his unhinged jaw.

* * *

 **Back in the Drome…**

"…way." I stood there, wide-eyed, not believing what was in front of me.

"You'll also learn a few things about who you're battling in here." He said in the now deep, robotic voice. I could still hear the friendliness behind it, though. "And just a heads up, PerimPride. When you face me after today, my cards won't be new scans that I'm testing out myself."

To say the least, I was starstruck. "Dad…he remembered you. He never forgot that battle lesson you gave him."

"I'm honored to be among legends such as Maxxor and Najirin, even so long after." He said. "Angel, I'm honestly not going easy on you. I never do that, no matter how nice I am."

I smiled. I felt proud to have beaten a Codemaster, my Dad's favorite even, in one round. Accident or not! "Hee-hee! Good! But I'm not giving up until the last card is played."

"Atta girl." He said proudly.

* * *

 **After the last round…**

When the match ended, I had lost and I looked as Maxxor changed back to Codemaster Crellan. "Thank you for battling me." I said. "Even though I haven't won seven matches yet." Picking up my scanner, I still felt like I had gotten a lot out of this. I had won a battle against a Codemaster, and it being one of my first matches! I reminded myself that those weren't his usual Creatures so I shouldn't let it go to my head.

"Did you feel like you got anything from _being_ a Creature?" He asked me. "That was the point of all this, remember?"

"Yes! Thanks for that too!" I couldn't forget how it felt to get into a Creature's mind. How heavily invested each of them is on their side of the war. The passion for protecting their homes, and how they've put everything in their lives towards saving their tribe. "But I can't say for sure if I'm on one side or another's yet."

"Don't worry about deciding that." He assured me. Talking to Mr. Pren- Codemaster Crellan was a lot like talking to an older family member. There's a familiarity and a kind of calmness that tells you to take what he says to heart. "In a way… we're both Chaotic Neutrals. We have the freedom to not choose sides and don't fall under pressure when people try to force a choice on us. You're not hurting anybody by not choosing, PerimPride."

"I just hope Ebberim and Frafdo never ask me."

"Even then, you'll still have a lot of doors open to you." I could practically see the smile behind the mask. "Like this one." He gestured to the door that opened back out to Chaotic. "Ladies first."

I walked out and turned back to see the door close behind me. "Well, it's his Drome. He can get out when he wants." I was going to walk back to the tables to see if my friends were back, but they were already running up to me!

"Angel!" They all cried out at once. Before I could respond back, they were right in front of me with Manny lightly shaking me at my shoulders! Kit and Kat were speaking at the same time as him too.

Kit: "How is it that we're gone for a few minutes and you score a match with a _Codemaster_? Do you know him? How did you get him to be your second match?"

Kat: "For real? You do all the really cool stuff while we're gone! Why do you always have to go running off on us Angel, haven't you heard 'all for one and one for all?'"

Manny: "Codemaster! Codemaster Codemaster! You lost to a Codemaster on your second match! You got one on him though. Man! I'm not gonna want dinner I'm so hyped!"

"Hey!" A fourth voice interrupted from behind them. I looked along with them and see that same Danian kid who got up in my face earlier. He was crouching on his knees and panting with his scanner in his hand. "Hey… I caught your match just now. PerimPride, right?" He made himself stand up straight. "I want to challenge you to a one-on-one match. You can name the Drome and I'll meet you there."

Another Chaotic Player, a girl with blonde hair, came running and pushed him aside. "Not so fast! I challenge you for a six-on six match in the Hotekk Drome, and I'll throw in a prime Lyssta scan. You don't have a favorite tribe, so she's a great asset to your team!"

"Bribes?" Kit raised an eyebrow next to me.

He spoke too soon, as more Players came running up asking for a match! My friends began acting like bouncers trying to push them back and arranging times for me to battle them. Realizing how my _other_ problem had been solved by Mr. Prentum's match, I gleefully whispered back to the door. "Thank you!"

 _I love Chaotic!_

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry I was gone for so long. My laptop broke and it wasn't until after the holidays that I got a new one all set up. And with school I'm not sure if I can promise a quick update. But I don't want to leave this unfinished. So if you like or hate it, please leave a review and I'll do what I can!**


	14. Second Generation Troublemaker Pt 1

**Someone asked a question about Tom that I think it's about time we address.**

 **I think the best place to have it answered is... Kiru City!**

* * *

 **Angel's POV**

When my Chaotic-self came back, I was sitting with Manny and Mom at the dinner table. My scanner beeped and I pressed the button to get all my memories. "What's that, Angel?" My mom said looking up from her salad.

I waved it off and put my scanner back in my pocket. "Just my alarm being wonky. Manny have you gotten yours fixed yet?"

On cue, Manny scanner went off and he brought it out. From the shocked look on his face I could tell he had just gotten his own memories back too. "Uh… y-yeah! We should probably ask someone in the Club how to fix 'em."

Mom shook her head and went back to eating. "You kids really center your lives around that Chaotic club. Should I be looking for a tutor in case both your grades drop?"

"But they haven't, Mom." I pointed out. To be honest, Manny and I hadn't been all that focused in the Chaotic Club lately. Going to the Real Chaotic and the Real Perim kinda made our school club look microscopic by comparison. We still went once a week, but we got our fill of it through our codes.

Mom looked up at me with her serious face. "But they're not improving either. I just don't want you both to forget about your futures, high school will have a huge impact on who you'll become as adults, and I've been pulled away from home to go to work a lot lately. I want to be sure you both are using your time wisely."

I grumble. Mom has never been much fun. She acts like I'm one C away from summer school, when A's and B's are the norm on my report card. No way she ever went to Chaotic and did something risky like Mount Pillar or fight Codemasters.

Sensing the tension, Manny spoke up. "No sweat, Aunt Sarah. Me and Angel'll be hittin' the books hard tonight. That way you can keep the ants in line!"

"Har, har." Mom mock-laughed. Just then her phone went off and she walked out of the kitchen to talk to her associate.

I leaned over and whispered to Manny. "Way to go my fellow conspirator!"

He whispered back. "Yeah! And it sounds like she'll be home late tonight. So we'll download a movie and send our otherselves back to Chaotic tonight."

"It's a plan! I want to see Smoke Ninjas 3!"

"The Return of Tsunami?"

"Bingo!"

We returned to innocently eating when Mom came back into the room. "Guess who has to back after hours to view the new prototype mind-reader?"

That's Mom big invention. It's more like a cell phone that responds to specific thought waves or something. So far all testing has led to a lot of headaches for her and her research team. The way she explained it, it's how ants can send out distress signals and regain control when their lines are disrupted. Faster than a mass text and more specific in directions! But it's not even in the testing stages yet.

"You seem to be the lucky winner, Mom!" I joked. "That must be one crazy ant colony."

"Yeah, but not the craziest I've ever seen." She responded, grabbing her lab coat and keys. "As for you two: lock the doors AND windows tonight, put away the dishes, and start the last laundry load for tonight, and both of you are to be in bed **on time.** "

"Got it!" Manny and I both said, innocently smiling and leaning towards each other. Mom gave us the 'I'm watching you' signal and locked the door behind her. We looked out the window and watched as she backed out the driveway and went down the road. Now, Manny does sleep and live in our guest room, or 'The Manny Cave' as he calls it. But his house is literally right across the street so he can go there whenever he wants. Mom is right to suspect that him staying over is a sure sign that we're going to get in trouble, then again tonight is special.

"Do you want to call him first before we start the movie?" I ask Manny.

He nods. "You lock up, I'll get the phone."

I roll my eyes at getting the harder job. _Lucky for Manny I already took care of the upstairs, otherwise I'd let him have it._ I run around the bottom floor making sure every door and window is locked tight before running back to the kitchen.

"Ready?" I ask Manny who's already sitting at the table with the phone.

He waved me over, "It's already on speaker, just waitin' for the dial tone."

It rang three times before… "YOOO! MA' BOI!"

"YOOOO! MA'DAD!"

Yep. On Friday night's Manny's dad is usually free after a gig so we call him to check in every week. "Hi, Uncle Peyton!" I say to the phone. "My Mom got called back to work, so it's us for tonight."

"Rockin'!" said Uncle Peyton. "And Angel I've been hearing how you two have been hittin' Chaotic. Manny won you over to the Mipedian side yet?"

I laughed lightly. "Sort of. I'm more of a… _Chaotic_ Neutal, if you know what I mean."

"I think you just gave me the name of my next song, little lady!" Manny's dad is the lead singer for a popular rock band called Molten Code. According to Mom, Uncle Peyton has been the loud, creative type all their lives. Another hint at Mom's lack of knowledge of Perim is that she never mentioned anything beyond the card game when even talking about her past.

Manny then told his Dad. "Dad, you WON'T believe this! But… Angel scored a match with a Codemaster!"

"For real?" Uncle Peyton asked in surprise. "Angel you won seven matches that fast?"

I explained. "No, but I think he remembered my Dad and he saw no one else was challenging me. It was Codemaster Crellan, the original one."

"You sure?" my uncle asked us.

"Yes," I said, "He even remembered the match he had with my Dad after he lost his Maxxor card. I lost the match, but I did win one round."

"And now you're Miss Perim Popular." Manny added. "We had to write down names and schedule all your matches for the next two weeks! All of Chaotic wants a piece of her now."

"The life of the famous." I could tell Uncle Peyton was fake swooning. "Just so you're up to speed, Angelina, Manny also told be about Mipedian Adventures: Day One."

Then I said, "That's kind of what we were hoping to speak to you about." It was either get to the point fast or risk be laughed at again.

"Dad, you're the only one we can talk to who's been to Perim before us." Manny said. "Can you give us any pointers on where we should go next?"

"Or who?"

For a while Manny's dad was completely silent on the other end. _That's even ultra rarer than Manny going into silent mode._ Then again, it was a while ago and he probably had tons of memories to sift through…

"Have you…" he started. " Gone to Mount Pillar yet?"

"I did." I told him.

"But it's dangerous for Angel to go alone, Dad. We heard some of the top bugs talkin' and they say no girls anymore."

"WHAT?!" Peyton screamed. "Their leader is a girl! Okay, technically she's their _mom_ so… Wait, what bug said this?"

"Angel?" Manny asked for clarification.

I told him. "Some Fire Gate guard called Wamma. He was willing to take boys prisoner, but any human girl in there will be blasted on sight."

"W-Well, th-that's just-! I mean back in the day…" He's mad. Maybe for my sake, but I can still port into Mount Pillar when I want. Thanks to Raznus. Taking a deep breath, Uncle Manny tried again. "Okay… Then what's the skinny on the Overworld?"

"Haven't really done anything 'cept Cordac Falls." Manny said.

His dad asked, "Have you or Angel gone to Lake Ken-i-po or Kiru City?"

"Neither." I said.

"Then 10-4 to Kiru City, kids!" He proclaimed. "The Big Perim Apple awaits! Tip: Hotspots include the Arsonal, Mugic Academy and Maxxor's Castle."

"Sweet!" Manny and I high-fived each other.

"Oh! And kids?" Uncle Peyton asked for us one more time. "Be careful what you say to Sarah about Chaotic."

* * *

 **In Peyton's Tour Van…**

Peyton hung up the phone after saying good-night. He walked out of the booth area with slight look of uncertainty on his face. It would be his turn to drive tomorrow, but for now he sat down in the trailer's living room where two other Molten Code members were snoring away. The third, the base player known as Thorn, was driving. He hadn't heard everything Peyton had said, but by the look on his band mate's face…

"Why didn't you tell them?" he asked. Thorn had been a Chaotic Player back in his day too. Having traveled with Peyton long enough, he knew the implications of his friend's life, most of them anyway.

"Because it's not for me to tell 'em." Peyton said, not removing his eyes from the floor. "This is between Sarah and her daughter, much as I love them both I shouldn't start a fight I'm hundreds of miles away from."

"Oi, yeah." Thorn agreed. "Then why send them to Kiru City if you don't want her finding out?"

Peyton looked up now. Confidence returning to his face. "If she can't meet her mother's friends, she might as well have Tom's."

"Again: why not tell her?"

Peyton leaned back. "The fun is aaaalllll in the mystery, Thorn. And it's time to leave it to the kids!"

* * *

 **In Chaotic Port Court…**

Kat and Kit were already there watching matches when we ported in. Without even greeting them, Manny slammed his hands down onto the table and said, "Time to go, amigos!"

"Go?" Kit asked adjusting his glasses. "Go where?"

"Serving, for your Perim Adventure of the Day: Kiru City!" Manny declared.

Hoping to get our friends on the bandwagon, I said, "We heard from Manny's dad that there's a lot to see and scan around there. I think it's worth a look."

Kat fully turned around, "Sorry, Angel. I'm not one to turn down a good scan quest, but Kit and I both have dates here in an hour."

"And by that she means we're scheduled for matches soon." Kit made it clear. "We'll definitely go with you on the next one, though."

"Awww!" Manny whined. "But we've hardly had any practice scanning as a group!"

I came up and put a hand on Manny's shoulder. "Manny, they can't help it. They can't just bail out last second, besides even if we all did go at once it would still be a pretty big group."

Kit piped in. "Isn't that good for safety?"

"It is," I said, "but in our experience we usually end up getting separated when we go in a group. Maybe going in pairs at a time is a better way for us to learn Perim's layout?"

Kat sent a knowing look Kit's way. "Yeah, Kit. You wouldn't want to _lose your partner_ and leave them stranded in an unknown location, would you?"

Throwing his arms up, Kit complained, "How many time do I have to say 'My bad' already?" He crossed them in frustration as we all laughed.

"That'll be the challenge then!" Manny said. "Which of us will bail and come back here first? Gentleman and _Kat_ , place your bets!"

Kat raised a threatening fist to Manny. "Okay, just for that I'm going! But after my match."

Kit shook his head. "She can't resist a challenge…" He sighed. "Then I'm in too."

And that's how it ended up as the four of us porting to Kiru City!

* * *

I wasn't sure what to expect. But being Ebberim in Kiru City was a lot different than being Angel Majos in the **_real_** Kiru City. I still got an old-world feeling, though Kiru City definitely has a more modern feel than Mount Pillar or the Royal Mipedian Fortress. _And from what Kat and Kit told us, Underworld City has nothing on this!_ Dad described this place as the center of all Overworld society, he had so many good times here. True that I've claimed to have no favorite tribe, but I guess the Overworld will always have a special place because of Dad.

Kit, Kat and Manny were possibly just as amazed as I was. Though they were quick to snap out of it.

"Not bad, not bad." Kat folded her arms.

"Can't really tell one building from another." Kit added.

Mannyput his arms around the Underworld twins in a tight hug, "Oh, don't you both go spoiling it! We all got our time with our Dads' tribes, today is Angel's turn!" Then he released them, allowing them to breath and patted me on the shoulder. "So Miss- Neutral-But-Slighty-Overworld, which way do we go?"

I looked around the streets. I felt so frozen in place. Like I was in a place I did not belong, but wanted to see everything right away! I barely heard my friends talking to me as I looked around. "It's…even better than Dad described it."

I know I said it loud because Kat got me in a one-arm head-lock and said. "Aw! Angel's having feels!"

It didn't hurt, but I tried to get her off, pulling at her arm and trying to duck away. Both of us laughing at my poor attempts. Then Kit came over started trying to get his sister off. "Kat, we've talked about this!" And behind us Manny was laughing at us just because! The moment almost completely eased off my nerves. Me and my three best friends just goofing off and about to tour another Location together when-

"That's her!" The yell was loud and from very close by.

I turned, still in Kat's grip with the rest of us frozen in place. Three green-skinned guards in Overworld armor stood at the corner with one of them pointing at us.

"That's the girl. Capture them!"

We took that as our cue to run!

Kit shouted as the guards chased us. "What did you do, Angel?"

"Nothing! You guys know I've never been here before."

A paper whizzed by us and I heard it hit Manny in the face. "Pah! Well, it musts been somethin'!" Manny shouted. "Cause this ain't a picture of Kat!"

Still running, he passed it up to Kat who handed it to me. I can't read in Perim language, but Manny was right. This looked like a wanted poster. And the Chaotic Player drawn carefully on it was definitely me!

"Oh man!" I said, letting the paper go. "Now I'm glad Dad _isn't_ here."

The guards chased us for well over half an hour before we lost them. Running for our lives didn't really give us much of a chance for sight-seeing. But that was the least of our worries right now.

"Look, Ange," Kit panted as we all stopped to rest in an alley. "I believe you when you say you haven't ever been here. But could something you've done somewhere else, maybe to an Overworlder, have led to this?"

"You have gone on a few scan quests by yourself." Kat added. "You must have _some_ Overworld Locations."

I tried to think back. Back when Manny, Kit and Kat had really been into the Drome battles and I hadn't, I would often go on little outings by myself. "There… was the time I met Yokkis and Lystone."

"I know about that one." Manny said, being the slowest to catch his breath. "You fell into a trap in The Forest of Life Location."

I finished the rest of the story. "But then Lystone flew me out. She was sweet, and even offered to help me get back at Yokkis." We stuck bunches of rotting fruits in his house's roof windows and under the front door. In minutes, Yokkis came coughing out from the terrible stench. "But he congratulated us on it and the three of us even ended up doing a few other pranks on other Creatures going around the forest. I got a lot of great scans that time!"

"Though it looks like you ticked enough people off by it!" Kit grumbled.

Then Kat said. "Overworlders are too sensitive! If that's what it was, then why aren't there poster of Lystone and Whatzit?"

"Yokkis." Kit corrected.

"Whatever."

Manny broke between them. "Think it was Frafdo? I mean, sure you helped him out, but could he have something against ya for it?"

I shook my head. "No. Being in Frafdo's head I'm a little more sure that he's s stuffy eagle. But he wouldn't be ungrateful enough to do something like this."

It was quiet so we all began thinking about what could be the reason for me to become a wanted criminal in Kiru City. Kit even suggested we port back until all this cooled off, but Manny reminded him of our bet and that none of us had gotten a decent scan of anything except this alley we were hiding in.

Somehow I started thinking of another time I had hidden from Perim authority. "Maybe it was Maxxor who made the call." This time, my thoughts were more purposely out loud. It got everyone's attention for sure. I sighed down-heartedly. "Guys we didn't see any other Chaotic Players when we came in here."

"It could just be a slow day." Offered Manny.

I told them. "No, I think this might be something else. Guys, my Dad told me that the first time he saw Maxxor, he didn't trust humans. They got on better terms later on, but… I don't know, maybe something has changed?"

They all looked together a bit bewildered. My Dad knowing Maxxor wasn't a big shock to Manny who also knew of few of Dad's stories, and the twins' took it casually when we told them because _their_ dad had known Chaor. _I always had the feeling Dad always had something more to add with everything he told me. Used to be that would make it more exciting for next time. Now…_

"E-Even so," Kit came over and stood by me. "That doesn't explain why _you're_ picture is the only one up. I mean, you can't be the poster-child for Chaotic Players." He turned back to his sister and Manny. "Can she?"

"Eh…" Kat looked off down to the entrance.

Manny averted his green eyes from us. "She does have three matches scheduled for tomorrow…"

I grumbled and went to lean over against the wall of the alley to think. _What did I do? Some of the Mipedians (mostly Mudeenu) don't like humans, but Overworlders generally seem so…_ I placed my hand on the light brown stone to prop myself up. I felt depressed, not knowing what you did to get punishment it terrible. In sympathy my friends all came over to comfort me.

The wall suddenly gave way and I was already falling backwards when Kat reached out to grab me! In the second I felt her hand, I was already falling so hard that I saw he going down with me. Seeing his sister about to fall in that instance, Kit reached out to catch her by her shirt, while Manny in turn tried to hold Kit.

In short: we all fell through a hole in the wall together!

We all screamed out in surprise a little, but I made it a point to cry out. "Not again!"

Unlike the Mipedian Tunnels it wasn't so dark as we fell and it didn't last all that long. We all landed in a pile and groaned as we got back up.

"What was _that_?!" Kat asked, rubbing her back where Kit and Manny had fallen on her.

I was the one to reply. "A Bodal Tunnel."

Adjusting his glasses, Kit asked grumpily, "What's a Bodal Tunnel? And who would put a trap door in the middle of the city?"

"Dad told me about these." I said, getting up. "Not everyone, Creature or otherwise, knows about them. But they're how Bodal gets around Kiru City for Battle Gear deliveries or escaping if there's trouble."

The room were was made of stone bricks and it looked like the lighting was powered by electricity. There were also three passageways in front of us. Dad told me that a person should be careful if they fall into one of these Tunnels. Bodal isn't one to enter a fight, he's not they only thing to worry about when down here though.

"So," Kat said putting her hands on her hips. "Same problem as when we got here: Which way do we go, Angel?"

"Who goes there?" echoed a voice off the Tunnel walls. "No one's supposed to be down here!"

 _More trouble!_

We should have run, but the light with its owner was already standing in front of us.

* * *

 **To be continued...**

 **I should write more about the kids doing something together. Hm... and maybe next time I should do something with Manny having the spotlight?**

 **We'll see!**

 **See ya next time!**


	15. Second Generation Troublemaker Pt 2

**Reeeeeeaaaaallllllyyyy sorry this took so long! It's been a busy month with tests and projects and family, etc... But I'll make it up to you. Promise!**

* * *

 **Angel's POV**

I squinted my eyes from the light. I could barely see who was holding out the lantern. "Well," the voice said, "I wasn't expecting anything like _this_ to be down in the tunnels." The voice was male. Kind of gruffy, but with a kind of shyness at the same time. He turned down the light and we were all able to lower our hands to see him as he walked closer.

"Name's Olkiex." He greeted us, extending one of four large paws our way. All of us were hesitant, but Manny was the first to reach out and shake his hand.

"N-Nice ta meet ya, dude." Manny replied.

Letting go of Manny's hand, Olkiex looked over our unsure faces and said, "Guess you all came in here by accident right?"

"Uh-huh." We all nodded. We were all probably nervous that he might recognize my face, but it was too late for me to hide. Kit, gathering his courage stepped out and said, "There's some kind of trouble causing everyone to go running around the streets. Heh, we just got lucky and found the trap door."

Olkiex nodded, seeming to understand. _Way to go Kit!_ It felt like we were in the clear. There was only a brief second where the light of Olkiex's lantern fell on my face. Kat tried to cover me up, but Olkiex just sweeped Kit and Manny gently to the side.

"Look!" Kat began to stand defensively, still trying to protect me, "She hasn't done anything! Why do you people-" He just lifted her by the back of her shirt like she was a piece of tissue and set her aside.

I tried to look away. Running wasn't an option, and I knew there was no way we could take on Olkiex. Yet I didn't reach for my scanner, instead one hand was clenched over the other as I forced my gaze up to look at him. _Olkiex is as big as a bear, so why does he somehow remind me of a hamster?_ Maybe it was the eyes. They didn't look mean, or suspicious or malevolent in any sense. "I…" I tried to talk for myself. "I- um…"

"You have the same eyes as Tom…" Olkiex said in wonder.

After that I couldn't help looking up at him. I loved being told I look like my Dad. I know I get my dark hair and eyes from him, they're my favorite features about myself. And whenever someone else compliments me about them, I usually blush a little. But this time… someone from Perim had made a comparison of me and my Dad from thirty years ago.

 _He…_ "You remember him?" was all I could think of to say.

"Do I!" Olkiex said, "Tom learned these tunnels when he… well, no, I believe he must a have been a bit taller than you." Olkiex moved one of his hands up and down over my head to compare. I put my hands on my hips in slight annoyance, but I ended up smiling when he said, "He used to help Bodal and me in the Arsonal when he…Say, do kids want see it?"

* * *

Olkiex guided us through every tunnel until he brought us to the Overworld's Arsonal. BattleGear, all shiny, new and ready for battled was stocked and lined up on the shelves and racks. "Awesome!" I said. My friends all agreed. _Dad, this is sooo cool!_

We ended up helping Olkiex move and take stock of BattleGear he was behind on. "Bodal's really serious about keeping the Arsonal in perfect order," Olkiex explained. "That's why there's so much to do. I can work on my own inventions in the spare time, but all this new BattleGear just came in so I haven't had any time at all."

I listened as Olkiex talked on and on about working=g in the Arsonal. I didn't tell him about how Dad had already told me a lot, including how annoying and obstinate Bodal could be. _Or what a big-mouth the little guy is._ However, I didn't interrupt Olkiex's continual praise of Bodal for that. I also didn't want to ask if he knew what the daughter of Tom Majors had done to deserve being on Kiru's Most Wanted List.

Kat and Manny really wanted to complain about moving the heavy creates and counting. But I think the promise of some great scans kept their whining to a minimum. Kit was more compliant, and was able to count the Gear fast. "This is actually almost fun." Kit told me as he and I were working together. "Seeing what goes on behind the scenes, ya know?"

"Not me!" Kat huffed off to the side with a crate of Torweggs. "I'd take being on the front lines over this." Olkies had gone to the back so there wasn't any real need to shush her.

"I'm just getting hungry." Manny came up behind Kat to help her push. "How about after this we take a lunch break and port back to Chaotic?"

"Sure," Kit replied. I caught the hint of smugness in his voice. "But what was that bet we made before coming here? Oh yeah! First to back out loses."

"And the losers have to…." Kat tried to decide. "Buy lunch in the Port Court!"

"But all the food is free." I reminded her.

"It is? Phew." Manny looked relieved. "I was worried about paying the tab."

"And _who_ did you think was paying, dare I ask?" Kit sent a look that Manny was oblivious to.

He just smiled and shrugged. "I figured it was Angel. She's been chugging down enough cola to start a new Cordac Falls."

"Hey!" _I like soda, is that a crime!?_

Just the same all my 'friends' light-heartedly laughed.

When we finished the work Olkiex gave us, he pointed out what the best weapons in the Arsonal were and let us scan them. We each got two, keeping in our bet to see who went home first. I got a Flux Bauble that I've been wanting for a while and a Destructozooka that our new friend promised had a real kick to it. "Thanks for bringing us here, Olkiex." Manny said, picking his own scan. "No way any other place we woulda picked-"

Olkiex suddenly covered Manny's mouth and shushed all of us. The sound of a door banging could be heard in the other room, followed by an agitated voice. "OLK-E-X! Did you finish restocking? You better have finished, we'll be solons behind at this point!"

Somewhat nasily, but kind of authorative in the same way, Bodal had come back to the Arsonal. And by the look on Olkiex's face, it was sooner than he had expected. We were all spread out around the room, but somehow, Olkiex managed to gather all four of us with his arms, and shove us into a nearby create that was empty. "Just stay here for a few minutes!" he begged before snapping the door to it closed. There was barely enough room between us for breathing let alone protesting.

"Overworlders _are_ crazy." Except for Kat.

We could hear everything going on in the Arsonal, and since I was in the front I could see out of a small hole in the wood. Bodal crossed into the room looking seriously annoyed, Olkiex kept casting nervous glances to our hiding place.

"Ack! Maxxor's mad-hunt has turned the whole city into town of savages! On my way back from the Mugic Academy I was nearly trampled to death, Olkiex. Me! How would this city function if I were lost? Those amateur guards see one human on the streets and they rush at them! Bah! The only consolation is that there are no meddlesome humans in Kiru City."

Ollkiex replied nervously. "U-Um, may if they didn't charge at the humans they might stay and answer some questions about the human Maxxor really wants."

Bodal sorted. "A more tactical plan in theory, Olkiex, but no." He crossed over inspecting some of the gear we had just put away. "You remember how humans are. Unreliable, clumsy, and… and… and, well, you remember."

I saw Olkiex's sympathetic glance through the crate's whole.

He said, more confidently, "I remember Tom. He wasn't anything like that."

In our cramped little space, I felt my friends nudge me in confidence. I smiled and listened as Bodal replied.

"Perhaps he is excused from 'clumsy', but that boy was a troublemaker from the start. Asking questions he shouldn't ask, leaving work around here half-finished: and the consequences that came of it!"

"There were good results in the end." Olkiex replied. "Like when he stopped those Chaotic Players from destroying our Locations. Finding the Danians tunneling near the Arsonal was a close call, I admit. But it did result in a peace between the Tribes in time to stop the M'arillian Invasion. That wouldn't have happened without Tom and the other humans."

 _Yeah, Olkiex! You rock!_ Defending my Dad against that stiff, green frog! This is why I love the Overworld Tribe. Something changed in Bodal's face, he looked even more annoyed.

"Well, if you're done reminiscing on useless pieces of the past, and you have restocked all our Battle Gear… unsualy fast I might add." Uh-oh… now Bodal was suspicious.

Olkiex coughed and cleared his throat saying. "The good ol' days cheer me up some and make me work faster. Who knows? Maybe Tom will come back and there will be more fun days to have."

"Of _that_ I most profoundly hope not."

"But if he has a daughter, wouldn't you want to see her too? She could have the same job in the Arsonal, like you gave him!"

Sarcastically, Bodal deadpanned, "Oh, what joy that will bring me that day."

From the back of our crate, Manny whispered, "Yeah, dude, like you're the dream boss of the century."

Kat covered her smile, while Kit shushed them both.

Bodal's head snapped towards our spot. "What was that?"

Olkiex quickly diverted his attention. "Bodal, there's actually something wrong with one of our gear. You need to see it right away!"

"Fixing the Gear is _your_ speacialty, Olkiex." Bodal sighed. "That's why you're still working here."

"No!" At this point, Olkiex grabbed Bodal and started carrying him away. "It's _all_ the water blasters! They are not supposed to shoot green goop!" Bodal protested, but he and Olkiex were already gone.

I told everyone else in the crate, "Coast is clear. I think that's out cue to go."

"Finally!" Kat agreed.

I pushed on the cover. It wouldn't budged. "Guys, help me out." Kit and Kat were right behind me so we all pushed together, but we couldn't get it to move.

"It's stuck!" Kit stated. "We'll have to wait until Olkiex gets back now!"

"You mean: 'Wait until he gets back without Bodal on his back.' Right?" Kat pointed out.

Realizing this, a bit of panic set in. I could feel Kat tensing up, and her breathing became kind of quick. "Um, Kat?" I asked. "Are you by any chance… claustrophobic?"

"Yes!" she said.

Kit began speaking to calm her down. "Kat, we can be in here for hours and have plenty of air. This won't take too long, or you can port out and-" Kit had an epiphany. "That's perfect! That's how we'll get out of this. Kat, you can port out, go back to Chaotic, port here and get us out!"

"Why would I port myself back into a box I just got out of?!" she demanded.

"No, Kat." I clarified for her. "Use your scan of the Arsonal. If the crate is locked you can unlock it or find a way to get us out from the outside."

"Exactly." Said Kit. "Sis, you don't have to be in here if-"

Kat hit the button on her scanner, and was already gone. The crate was a bit roomier now.

"And… she loses." Manny high-fived Kit, now that he could.

But I was confused. "What are you taking… waaaaiiit a second." I realized. "You guys are still going on about that bet?"

Kit responded. "Yep! And Kat just lost. She's probably already realized that by now, so she'll be pretty mad. In the meantime, we should get out of here."

"We're trapped until she comes back remember?" I pointed out.

"Nuh-uh!" said Manny. "Not as of ten seconds ago."

He turned around and put his hands on both sides of the crate's frame. Then he simply nudged it back until the entire side came off and gave way to the light of the Arsonal! "Bada-bing! One escape for three!" _Those underhanded geniuses!_

Manny stepped aside as Kit, happily, and I, grumbly, stepped out. Once free he put the crate's side back into place. I crossed both my arms and made my most angry glare at those two.

"That was really uncool, guys." I said. "Whatever Kat does to you when she gets back will be well-deserved."

"Ah, c'mon Angel, it was all in good fun." Kit defended, looking as scared as he should be. "It's Kat's fault for falling for it any way."

"She's obviously scared of small spaces, Kit!" I pointed at him. "You're her brother, it was really unfair that you would use that weakness on her."

Manny stood between us and pushed us apart. "Step back everyone. This here's the Angel of Death when she gets mad. Besides, it's all's fair in love and war down here, Angel. You really think Kat wouldn't have used a weakness of Kit's if she hadn't spotted it?"

"Well…" Knowing Kat, 'yes' was the most likely answer. _Who am I kidding? She totally would have._

Kit spoke more evenly. "I'll deal with my sister when she gets back. But first we need to hide, those two are coming back."

Manny and both heard the footsteps right then. Since all of the shelves holding BattleGear were spread out around the room we each hid in a spot behind them where Bodal wouldn't see us.

"And why is this crate just left here?" Bodal demanded when he came close. He walked up to the wooden box and tried to open it. He didn't have any more luck than us. "Olkiex! Open this!" he demanded.

"But I, uh-"

"What? What is it now?" Apparently Bodal hadn't found any goo in the BattleGear. _Olkiex is really taking hit after hit for us._

"I-I think that one goes into storage! Here, let me carry it."

He began to lift it, when Bodal protested. "No, no! I'm taking stock of _everything_ now! You will open it up and let me look inside this instant!"

Olkiex must have realized when he tried to pick up the crate that it was too light for us to still be inside. He calmly set it back down and easily opened it for Bodal.

"Hmm…" Bodal leaned over, putting his big head into the crate. Meanwhile, OLkiex nervously looked around. Maybe it crossed his mind that we had ported out. But I leaned out and waved to let him know were still here. He visibly gulped.

"Oh, Bodal! I remembered!"

Bodal gave his assistant a stern look. "What?"

"It wasn't the blasters that were malfunctioning, it was-"

Bodal held out a hand to stop him. "Obviously your brain is lagging today. Perhaps we should inspect every, single piece of Gear to make sure you get the proper one this time."

 _Rude._ I glare at Bodal's back. Despite his size, Bodal is perfectly able to jump up and grab Olkiex by the ear and drag him away like an angry principal. Which gave me an idea. Back in elementary school, Manny and I had this one teacher who was always on our backs. Granted, Manny and I did have a bit of a mischievous streak back then. We were cute! We could get away with anything! And the truth was, we didn't get caught for even half the stuff we did.

But anyway: to avoid Mr. Mean, I developed a sneak technique, and it's come in handy in more than one time since then. Looking over, Manny and Kit aren't in my sight. I won't be able to signal them or anything from here. I'll just have to find and get over to one of them on my own. _They'll probably be peeking out at where Bodal and Olkiex are, looking for where to go to avoid them._ This bet is really causing us more trouble than fun.

Stepping as softly and slowly as I can, I try and match my steps to that of Olkiex's and Bodal's. _They'll dismiss the sound of their own feet._ I ghost the two of them for a few steps until I am right behind them. Olkiex looks over his shoulder at me. I make a pleading look at him and he nods. "Is that supposed to be there?" he points at a certain Gear.

"Where?" Bodal asks.

Bodal leans over, blocking Bodal's view to the side. "That one, look closer, Bodal. I think something's off about it."

I tip-toe over past them. Manny leans out and sees me, signaling to come over. "I saw what yer doing." He whispered. "Kit made it a little farther down, by the door O-K-X brought us in through."

"Did you say something?" Bodal asked Olkiex.

I covered Manny's mouth with my hand and look over the side.

Olkiex panicked and quickly said, "Just taking notes! Bodal, you really are the master of the Arsonal."

This seemed to brighten Bodal's mood. "Why, thank you. I take precision very seriously. All our warriors depend on this BattleGear to be in top form to defend the Overworld…"

 _Oh yeah, he definitely a combination of many teachers I've had._ Manny rolled his eyes along with me and we both started to get over to Kit. The only problem: Bodal and OLkiex were blocking the way. So with Manny leading the way, we ghosted Bodal and Olkiex. We would mostly stay behind Olkiex, while Bodal talked on and on and on… Every now and again he would stop. Somehow it turned into a weird kind of conga line. Even after we picked up Kit. We would walk and we would freeze. Walk. Than Freeze. Walk. Freeze! Walk, walk. Freeze! With every time us freezing, we would strike a pose.

So there we were, having a nice silent laugh while sneaking out of a weapons hideaway like a bunch of criminals when…

Kat bursts/ports in furious! "YOU SLIMY, UNDERHANDED LITTLE FREAKS! YOU CHEATED!"

And she conveniently landed right in front of where Bodal was walking. She shoved the poor Creture from her path, which was enough to scare Olkiex out of the way to help him. Kat marched right up to us as we backed up into each other. "So, you think that's funny, huh? You back me into a corner and then _make me_ chicken out! Oh, that's rich, bro. Bet you all just had a gooooood laugh over that one!"

Shocked and more than a little unhappy, Bodal took notice of us from his position on the floor. "What the-? Humans!? In my Arsonal?" He shot a dangerous glare at Olkiex who could do nothing but hang his head.

The fact that Bodal wasn't pleased with humans was made even more evident when he ran to one side of the wall and pressed some kind of emergency button. "Bodal, wait!" Olkiex tried to stop him but was too late. In less than a second guards were filling up the room and pointing their weapons at the four of us. We all cast a glare at Kat.

"Oh sure, blame me!"

To which we all said to her. "We do!"

* * *

Our scanners were taken from us. Even if we didn't hand them over willingly, no doubt they would have been taken by force. I tried to ask the guards what I had done to deserve a wanted poster, but all they said was: "You will know at the castle."

Olkiex and Bodal followed behind us, one looking greatly agitated and the other looking very worried. Manny stood next to me while Kit and Kat were behind us, none of us saying a word. If I was completely honest, I think all of were feeling insecure at having our scanners so close but out of reach. _Kat and Kit were able to at least escape Chaor's castle because they were separated and Kit could sneak in. In hindsight, maybe all of coming together wasn't the best idea._ No one else knows we went to Kiru City. Heck, they only other person we know is a Codemaster! I didn't say much, but all the way up I was thinking of why this was happening.

Was it because of the Wrip Wave?

Something I did?

On the other hand, a part of me was glad we were being taken right to the source of all my questions.

* * *

Like the guards had said, we were taken right to Maxxor's Castle. To describe it would be to simply say: Magnificent. The high walls had windows that let the sunshine light every corner. Beautiful banners hung on the walls along with pieces of armor and other relics. To me it was real clear that no ordinary warrior could just walk in here, let alone a human. But the real kicker was that we were led directly to the throne room.

"Whoa…" Manny breathed. He and the twins were as equally impressed as I was.

Kit whispered. "Yeah, a lot more light than when we got captured in Chaor's Castle, right Sis?"

Kat folded her arms. "Angel, just so know, Kit is going to be absent from my point of view until I can get my predator vision on."

Kit gulped.

Four guards stood in a line behind each of us. Bodal and Olkiex, who had both followed us here for some reason, stood to the side. Despite how anxious and scared I had felt coming up here, now I was feeling some kind of nostalgic. _High walls that glisten off the sun, royal tapestries and even a few old weapons out on display. Dad, I'm really here!_ Over and over ha had much such a big deal about the capitol city of the Overworld! Now that I'm seeing it, I can see that neither Dad's description or my imagination have done it justice.

From behind one of the hallway doors behind the throne came one of the guards who had brought us in earlier. He stood to the side as another as a much larger Creature walked in behind him. "All hail, the Ruler of the Overworld! Bow before Maxxor!"

And out stepped the very face of Chaotic's noblest Creatures. Maxxor entered the room and all the Overworlders bowed at the waist. Not really sure what to do, I did the same and motioned for my friends to follow. Kat was reluctant until Kit pushed her down. Once Maxxor reached the center of the throne everyone straightened back up.

He looked down at us, carefully surveying each us with a glare until his eyes fell on me. I flinched a little. _If I did something so bad, I guess now would be the time to ask about it._ But Maxxor's face changed when I looked at him…

His eyes lifted from a glare to… I'm not sure what. It was like he couldn't believe I was there. "Um…" I tried to ask him why we were brought here, the words just couldn't come out of my mouth.

"Wait!" I looked over at the sound of Manny's voice calling out. "Maxxor, Sir, Highness- We don't even know what Angel's done! You can't punish-"

"Be silent you idiotic human!" Bodal shook an angry fist at Manny. "You're addressing the Mightiest Creature in all of Perim!"

"Stand down, Bodal." Maxxor commanded him in an almost threatening tone. He said to Manny, "But it seems as though these children have the wrong impression. Your friend is the real Angel Majors, then?"

Kit said, "You got a pretty accurate wanted poster for someone whose never seen her before."

Kit shivered as Maxxor's gaze fell on him. The King of the Overworld replied, "Frafdo has the keenest eyes. He never forgets an enemy he faces… or a friend who lends who shows their bravery in battle."

In a mixture of shock and relief, I said, "Frafdo?"

"He told me of your actions at Cordac Falls." Maxxor explained. "You acted with courage for someone you didn't even know. And when he told me your name…"

My mind was blank, so at the moment I said, "What about my name?"

To which the leader of the Overworld looked down at me, confused. "Are you not the daughter of Tom Majors? Angel, I knew your father since he was young man. Didn't he ever tell you about Perim?"

 _Maxxor remembers Dad?_ It even sounds like he _misses_ him. _Ohmygosh, ohmygosh!_ Now things are really real. Codemaster Crelaan was one thing, but this…! This is beyond anything I even imagined. Dad really did come here! He _really_ did know Maxxor! _How do I even respond to all this?_

Before even my thoughts could continue Kat broke in. "Wait a sec! If you wanted to see her because of her Dad, why did you have wanted posters, guards chasing us, and then have our scanners taken away to get here?"

Maxxor cast a look towards the guards and at Bodal and Olkiex. He sighed. "Those weren't wanted posters. I've been looking for Angel since I heard she was in Chaotic. But it was impossible to contact her by regular means and her pattern of appearance was unpredictable. Those poster were invitations. Though I suppose my guards and my citizens may have misinterpreted them just as you did."

By the look of all the embarrassed faces in the room, that proved to be the case. However, Bodal was the first to try and defend his actions. "B-But Maxxor! I don't understand why you go through so much effort for a second generation troublemaker! Look at what her father brought about! The Battle at Broken Edge, or the M'arillian invasion? Don't tell me you've forgotten."

"What's he taking about?" I couldn't help, but ask Maxxor. _Dad told me about a mugic that made the Overworlders strong ,then left them drained, and he told me how he say the beginning of the M'arillian Invasion. Could he have maybe changed the stories when he told them to me? Why does Bodal hate him?_

Maxxor looked straight at Bodal with a stern face. "No, Bodal. Nor have I forgotten the heroism Tom showed in those same events and many others. Though I question if _you_ remember the whole story."

And with that, Bodal shut his mouth!

* * *

After that, we got a full tour of 'some' of the Castle. Olkiex stayed with us while Bodal went back to work at the Arsonal. We watched as Maxxor questioned the guards on how they dealt with finding us. Apparently their method of rushing at human had scared quite a few Chaotic Players away from the city. "Or at least from being seen." Manny whispered to me.

Maxxor had followed behind us. Little by little though, he had given lead of the tour over to Olkiex. Somewhere on one of the higher levels he put his giant green hand on my shoulder. "Angel," he said, "I have something in particular I wish for you to see." My friends were so distracted by Olkiex description of the history of the Vlaric Shards that they didn't notice me walking away with Maxxor. _Sorry about this guys, but something tells me I better not pass this up._

Maxxor guided me down one of the hallways until we came to a long balcony. "Take a look." He gently nudged me forward. The little excited girl inside of me didn't need to be told twice. I ran straight to the railing. "Woooowwww!" I said, my smile growing wider. The view was the entire layout of Kiru City! The Outer Wall rounded over the horizon into the sunset. The buildings closest to it were also made of the same stone, then the closer the buildings came the more white and majestic they became! There were rounded towers mixed in with flat roofs all glistening from the sun. It was even more beautiful than I had ever heard it described before!

Turning over my shoulder I called back, "Maxxor! This is amazing!"

He chuckled as he came up to stand next to me. "Indeed it is. My people have worked hard to make Kiru City what it is today. The war continues, yet the Overworld Tribe has never been so prosperous as it is now."

It wasn't until he was standing beside that Maxxor spoke again. This time more hesitantly. "I had hoped Tom would be here to see this view with me. Angel… do you know if your father is planning to return to Chaotic?"

His question hit like a runaway train. I almost choked out, I felt tears tugging behind my eyes. But I realized that there was no way Maxxor could possibly know. "Maxxor…" I said slowly. "Tom…My father… He's not alive anymore."

I saw Maxxor natural smile drop and his face go into shock, and then sadness. "Oh…" was all he said. It carried a heavy tone of loss and disappointment. "I… I'm sorry. It's just that… the last time I ever saw Tom, he was a healthy young man. I couldn't imagine..."

Maxxor was Dad's old friend. I remember seeing so many people at his funeral with looks just like Maxxor's right now. He deserved an explanation. "Did you know my Dad was in the Air Force? I think he was inspired by the Overworlders' warrior spirit to defend his own people, plus he always did have a love for flying." Talking about him is pretty easy. Talking about how Dad died… "He was testing a new plane at his base. He was already up in the air, then something happened and they lost contact with him… The engine exploded. The plane crashed… There was barely anything left of him to bury."

My shoulders were shaking despite anything I did to get them to stop, including grabbing them. Was I crying? Mt cheeks left a little cold and wet. I didn't want to cry. What helped me most, was a big, warm hand on my shoulder. I looked at Maxxor, he was telling me I didn't have to explain anymore. "I'm afraid he's not coming." I finished.

"THAT SUCKS!" We heard from inside the castle. We both looked to see my friends arguing with Olkiex trying to mediate between them. The one who had shouted was Manny. "Kat, the loser shouldn't allowed to make the rules!

"Hey! The bet was MY idea. And since no one else asked, _I_ decide that the loser gets whatever they want to order in Chaotic for a month!"

Kit said, "Kat just be a good loser for once! You've used my fear to win contests hundreds of times. You went back first, there's no arguing that."

Oddly enough, I started laughing. Maxxor now looked down at me like I was some kind of oddity. "Excuse me," I said with a giggle. "I think Olkiex is gonna need some backup." I ran over to get my friends to calm down. _I love these guys._

* * *

 **No One' POV**

As Maxxor looked at the back of Tom's daughter running off to stop her (strangely familiar) friends from wreaking havoc in his castle, he couldn't help but smile with a little pride. Angel was loyal, a bit shy, brave, compassionate and had a love for adventure. "Just like Tom." He said. Maxxor knew then that having her around was going to bring as much good to the Overworld as it did when Tom was a boy. "It's about time we had another troublemaker around here."

* * *

 **A/N: Just as promised: an explanation about Tom...**

 **But I'll have the next chapter up by Friday or Saturday this week! If you're still reading, please review, it really helps!**


	16. The Chaotic West Pt 1

**I took this down to rewrite it. I took it that if the first day there are 100 views and only 1 review, there is something about this the rest of you don't like. But I really want to do this chapter and to continue this story.**

 **I mean it when I say I can take criticism. If there's something you don't or want to see, that goes in the Review box, really!**

 **Any way, just keep that in mind as you read this.**

* * *

 **The Chaotic West**

When life goes off the rails and you're not sure where to go, there is always someone there to help ya do the wrong thing. It could be anyone, a friend, a sibling, a love or even yourself. It was especially hard to say who to trust in the Old West. When the land was still being tamed and the hearts of innocent were beinf steeled. The air is always dry, but the river faithfully flows. Tribesmen crossed lines they shouldn't have crossed, friends did things they never should have done. And brothers and sisters… made their own choices.

Sheriff Angelina Majors had roots in this dried, dusty town, yet there was none more willing than her to welcome the Creatures into Dust River, sometimes called Dust Town. Even made one or two of them her Deputies. Dust Town was a relatively quiet place. Ebberim the Lady Lizard of Song sang in the saloon, Bodal kept the bar nice and clean with high standards, and Deputy H'earring, though lazy as could be, kept a giant ear to the ground in case of trouble.

That all changed when Deputy Kristopher 'Kit' Kalinkas burst through the doors of the Sheriff's office.

"Sheriff Angel! Sheriff Angel!" He called out even though he saw the Sheriff fly clean out of her chair when he first came in. "The Hole-in-the-Head Gang stole a Mining Train from Underworld Mines! There's at least four armies worth of mugic on that train."

Hoisting herself up by one arm on her desk, Sheriff Angel adjusted her white hat and said, "The Hole-in-the-Head Gang? I'da thought with Baron Von Bloot locked up, they'd disbanded by now."

"No such luck. It looks like they have a new leader." Said, Deputy Kit. "The train just went right past the station with the entire gang laughing and flauntin' their success. Deputy Ghatup's the fastest, so I already sent him up to the railswitch to send the train around in a loop. But who knows how long we got?"

Angel now stood tall at her desk and looked straight at Kit. "Round up the rest of the Deputies fast as you can! If this gang is playin' fer keeps, then Dust Town will need its best."

Angel's office was too small to hold all the deputies, so since the saloon's business was goin' slow, Angel was able to talk Ol' Olkiex in lending them the floor to have their meeting, much to Bodal's chargin. Around a map of the town with the train route stood Angel with her First Deputy Kit, H'earring, Raznus, and Frafdo. The only deputy absent was Ghatup who was outrunning the train itself.

"We don't know how well that train is fueled," said Deputy Raznus. "But assuming the Hole-in-the-Head-Gang have the smarts to keep in running, it'll be an hour until they come back to town."

"But what if they stop the train and get off before then?" asked Deputy H'earring.

Kit provided relief for that one. "I saw one of their lackey members, Wamma I think, he was waving around the break switch like he didn't know what it was."

Frafdo stared down at the map with his permanent glare. "Then those fools are stuck on that mining train until it stops."

"Then let's take account on who we'll have to be dealing with when it does." Sheriif Angel looked over to her First and Second Deputies, Kit and H'earring. "Kit, you saw at least some of the Gang as they went by. Who do you remember seeing, and what are they wanted for?"

Kit didn't have to think hard. "There was Wamma."

H'earring provided his stats. "A Creature of Leisure and a Beast of Burden to the Danians. He's wanted for stealing, fraud and breakout on several counts."

Kit nodded and said, "I also saw Mudeenu. He was up by the train's engine with Wamma."

H'earring stuck out his tongue. "Bleh! He's a sour taste in anyone's mouth! Mudeenu tried to push his cousin out as head of the Mipedian Tribe. After that he was banished. He got a rough reputation in bank-robbery, livestock stealing and plundering his former tribe's camps."

Frafdo nodded. "And it's good to remember than most of the gang are Mipedians who followed Mudeenu for one reason or another. Sheriff, it goes without saying that Spectral Scanners will be a must."

Kit continued. "Leaning out of one of the cars was Ulamr. But I don't know-"

The group of protectors all spun around at the sound of a glass being shattered behind the bar. Bodal stood there with his fist clenched and a furious look in his blood-red eyes. "That skulless lab hack!" Bodal declared while slamming both fists onto the wooden counter. "He doesn't have half a head to need a hole through it! That low-brow Underworld mongrel must be the new brains of the operation!"

Olkiex went over to bandage and calm down his boss. It was no surprise to anyone Bodal would be upset about Ulmar coming so close to town. Ulmar had actually once been a citizen of Dust Town until he left for Underworld City under the pretense of 'continuing his research.' He had never caused any real trouble as the town's blacksmith, though was never generally liked, especially by Bodal. But now that he was coming back as part of the most notorious gang in Old West, there was going to be plenty of hate for everyone.

Turning back to the map with everyone, Sheriff Angel asked. "Was there anyone else you could identify, Deputy Kit?"

Kit hung his head low. Yes, he had seen two more faces on that train. Two faces that he knew Angel wasn't going to like hearing about any more than him. He adjusted his hat and said. "Yeah… They were in the middle car, leaning out the window….. Manning 'The Man' Rosen and…" The last name hung in the air like a precarious anvil on a ledge.

The other deputies stood silent, only the Sheriff showed any fear at the last name she knew she wanted to hear. "Kit… was it _her_? Could there be a mistake?" she asked, hoping.

"No." Kit replied flatly. "I saw her trademark flame bandana over her mouth. My sister is part of the Hole-in-the-Head Gang."

* * *

It was nearing noon and First Deputy Kit was starring off into the horizon on top of the saloon roof, watching the smoke from the stolen train move closer and closer to the to town. Behind him, the Sheriff and Second Deputy H'earring walked up sharing a concerned look with each other. Neither was sure of what to say to their friend. Taking the initiative, Angel stepped out first to speak.

Kit beat her too it. "I know what you're going to say." He said without looking away from the view. "But I want to be down there when the train comes in. No one made me sign up to be a Deputy, I don't need an excuse to back out. Especially since I know how Kat fights."

Angel looked back at H'earring. She had made Kit her First Deputy for a reason: she knew him best. She knew when he was acting tough and when he knew he wanted to run away. H'earring didn't need to hear the doubt in the boy's voice to know it was there either. Both of them came up and stood on opposite sides of Kit. "I wish I could say I was even half that confident about facing Manny." Angel said. "I just can't understand why he would get mixed up in a gang like that! He's eccentric, but not dangerous. He would never want to hurt another human or Creature."

H'earring had a sympathetic look under his hat, but he spoke firmly to the two humans. "But if he's running with those outlaws we have to assume he is dangerous now." As an Underworlder, H'earring was no stranger to attacks from his own kind. Even clashes between family and friends weren't so uncommon. "Those two were always wild cards."

"Are our connections from the past really not enough to call a bluff?" Kit asked, giving up his tough-act a little.

H'earring shook his head and looked up at the boy. "Not a chance in that. Either those two end up in a jail cell, or the last thing they see in this world is the receiving end of a blaster."

Kit looked over at the sheriff. "Angel, you're the Sheriff. Can't you make it…?" Kit wasn't sure it 'easier' was the right word.

Angel was as conflicted about this as Kit. No matter who her friends were or weren't, she had to protect this town. "Marshall Crellan will get a letter from me in two weeks time. He'll know the Gang is here, and come to Dust Town himself. I want to modify our weaponry to just Paralyzing Pistols, but with that Mugic onboard I can't afford to put us at much of a risk. You see your sister, Kit, then you have to take her down."

"But-"

"Remember the Oath: We protect Dust Town above all else. If we fail this time… Dust Town will just be the first of many." An unstable peace. Dust River had been left to the humans, and it was through the Tribal Truce that respect and safety would be assured here. Years had gone into this small town. But that might be all over in just under an hour.

H'earring added warily, "That's a… big risk, Kit."

Kit looked back to see the line of black smoke was moving closer. And down in the town square, Ghatup had just come back and was speaking with the sweet Ebberim. "So it's either my sister, or the town?"

"No." Angel said. Putting a hand on Kit's shoulder. "It's either your sister… or everyone's lives."

* * *

Elsewhere, the other Deputies rsted up in one of the saloon rooms looking at the same view where the train was due to come in. Ghatup stood leaning against the wall, skillfully shuffling a toothpick between his teeth. Frafdo stood with a drink in his hand that he got from Bodal before the little Creature went to hide himself in the basement. And Raznus, as was his habit, flipped the pages from a book he kept in his front pocket.

"Think the kids are ready for this?" Frafdo asked out of the blue.

Ghatup answered. "Hard ta say. Sheriff's got a will of steel, just like her old man. Just can't say fer sure she's ready for this kind of fightin'."

"She has the devil's own luck, and then some." Raznus added, not looking up from his book. "Each of us has a story on that."

Frafdo finished the last of his drink. "Then should she really be out firing with us?" The rest of his company paused and looked over at Frafdo. "Age and experience-wise, Angel's still a kid. Plus, being the sheriff she can hang back from time-to-time. That's all I'm sayin."

The three deputies may have all come from different tribes, but in Dust River everyone got their chance to start over and build new bridges between enemies. The humans were a big part of that. Angel was the most capable of building bonds, and, in addition to her lucky streak, she was also brave and compassionate. Hence two tribal leaders had consented to the town in her jurisdiction being neutral turf. She had named four allies, one from each tribe, in order to fairly represent the peace she wished to bring. Her deputies highly respected her for that

"She's young." Raznus agreed. "But she's able. Safe chance is: She's talking strategy with Kit and H'earring right now."

Ghatup shrugged and looked out the window to the circling train. "She's the luck, Kit's the brains, and H'earring's-"

Frafdo slammed his fist down. His fury brought him the attention of his two odd comrades again. "She's hesitating." He said. Frafdo was known for his eagle eyes, as well as his bitter attitude. He was most doubting to the humans being the head law enforcement in town when he first arrived. And it was worth remembering that he knew the sheriff almost as long as Deputy Kit did.

He continued to speak. "Kit's sister, Crazy-Eyed Kat is one thing. But Angel's got a brother-in-arms on their side too. I told you two that about as soon as I was sworn in, her First Deputy stepped out?"

No one was sure why Manny had left his badge in the jail house one day and didn't show up for work. But it wasn't very long until pictures of him started coming in on wanted posters. Razus thought that Manny and Angel might have had a fight. Ghatup figured the boy had just felt the sheriff's office was 'too crowded' and ended up in the wrong crowd. Frafdo… he thought that Manny had always been crazy, and being on the other side of the law was him getting away and being his craziest!

Raznus finally snapped his book closed and looked over at the doubtful bird. "What are you suggesting, Frafdo?"

Said bird sent a look over to the ant creature. "I ain't suggestin' nothing that's worth starting a fight over. When the train comes we'll need each our own share for that. But I am suggesting we do something about the kids'… 'bondage'."

Ghatup spat the toothpick out. "Like what?"

"Look," Frafdo held up a claw for him to settle down. "I owe the sheriff my life. I don't want to see her shot in the back or front by someone who was as close as a brother to her. But that will of hers stands no chance against her own soft heart. She'll show Kat and Manny mercy, I'm more than sure of it. And Little Kit's sure to go along with her, whatever she says. So what I'm saying is this:

"We don't wait for the Hole-In-the-Head Gang to take their shot. Even if they get away, Dust Town's name will be smeared because our sheriff goes soft on her own kind. Those bandits will come out guns blazing, for sure. So no matter how you look at it, no matter what Angel or Kit may say, we gotta take 'em down. Living won't be an option for them. It's either Angel and Kit, or Kat and Manny."

Raznus wanted to protest this logic, Ghatup wanted to cry out at this treason. But neither of them could. Frafdo was right that as long and Manny and Kat were alive and on the run, Angel and Kit's position could be compromised. It could spark distrust and possible war with the tribes and even the humans. Dust River was the hope that all _five_ peoples could live together in harmony. That burden could be easily compromised if the Hole-in-the- Head Gang got out of town with that much Mugic because the Sheriff refused to draw a blaster on her old friend.

So the three deputies silently agreed. The burden of ending the humans' lives would not fall on their leader's shoulders.

* * *

The train was drawing closer by the hour's end. Angel stationed H'earring and Frafdo into hiding places close to the station. When they Gang got off the train, they would be hit hard! For those who got passed them, Raznus and Ghatup were set above the barber shop and sheriff's office. That left the saloon, which Bodal insisted the Sheriff and Kit guard themselves in exchange for hiding all of the townsfolk who couldn't fight in his cellar with him and Olkiex. All of them had Spectral Viewers on their person, along with the Paralyzing Pistols Angel and Kit had quite _easily_ gotten them to agree to. Angel had given the order to not kill if they could help it, she wanted at least some prisoners to question later. Though some of the deputies were more armed than they allowed the Sheriff to know.

The quiet broke when the chugging sound of the mine train could be heard through the wind. Angel had positioned herself behind the counter. In an attempt to make a joke she talked to Kit who was positioned behind a curtain on the stage nearby. "Hey, Kit. Bodal took all the alcohol bottles, do you think that was because of the gang or because he didn't want anyone getting free drinks?"

Kit rolled his eyes. "Bodal only sells that kind of stuff to Frafdo, Angel! Most of the town either drinks that special cactus juice, or that fizzy, sugar water you keep drinking!"

"It's medicinal!" Angel objected.

"For what?"

"I… I need a distraction sometimes!"

"Well, now isn't one of those times." Kit said, sternly. "Maybe you don't realize this: but Manny and Kat know we're here too. Safe to say neither of them are big on making plans, but if we're in their way of escape, they'll use every weakness they know about us to escape."

"I still can't see Manny doing that." Angel let her confidence slip. "We grew up like brother and sister. He was always there to make me laugh or help me when I needed him… Every time…"

Kit sighed. "And I'm sorry about that, Angel. I really am. Kat's my sister, and I can't say we've had the same relationship that you and Manny. Still… I don't like the idea of aiming blaster at her. Even if it is set to stun."

Angel looked at her own weapon in deep thought. She knew she had no right to second thoughts when it was her who talked Kit into performing his duty earlier. He had managed to talk the others into using stun weapons only, yet Angel knew that bandits like the Hole-in-the-Head Gang would not play fair. "Maybe we can get them alone." Angel suggested. "None of the Creatures in the Gang are too loyal to each other. I know if I could talk to Manny-"

"Angel!" Kit got her stop. "Listen…"

She did. The chug-chug-chug of the train had been fast on approach for a while. But now not only was it closer, and it was sounding faster and faster. Like it wasn't planning to come to a stop. "Kit…?" Angel spoke, letting the fear show in her voice. "Ya remember what was due on the next train from the mines?"

Kit tried to remember what he and H'earring went over for. It had been his job to inspect the contents of the trains when they arrived from Underworld territory. "Um… 27 Deserter's Finale… 93 Songs of Fury, 16 Strains of Ash… 8 Searing Symphonies and-"

"No! I mean the conductor, Rothar!" Angel yelled in panic. "He keeps the train at a steady heat, but when he's close to the deadline he needs an extra boost-"

The train's distant whistle became an ear-splitting roar! Kit only had a second to leap off the stage to behind the counter where Angel was hiding and cover her back. The whole train came flying in from behind the stage, blowing every piece of wood and metal that was in its way to smithereens!

Before the dust and debris could even settle, a voice hollered out. "WOO-HOO! Ma' Pa always said: A good impression is a BIG entrance!"

The Hole-in-the-Head Gang had powered up the train as the approached town. Enough for it to fly off the tracks and right into the saloon!

* * *

 **A/N: Did anyone like this rewritten chapter better? It would be good to know.**

 **Can you imagine the Chaotic Creatures running around in cowboy clothes? Well, Nebres... He's already there!**


	17. The Chaotic West Pt 2

**I'd say sorry this took so long but...**

 **I just wanna put this into two parts. This will be long!**

* * *

Angel and Kit barely had any time to recover before the gang started firing their blasters into the air. They all came dashing out of the train manically hooting in victory. Angel got her hand on her pistol and started to get up before Kit pushed her down. The Gang hadn't seen them, but to start shooting the Paralyzers now would be suicide! Even with good cover, there would be too many dangerously armed outlaws for them to stop on their own. He whispered to her. "Let them file out some. We can come from behind that way."

Angel looked towards the door with all the criminals going into her town. She hated that, but she knew Kit was right. The fact that the train had run itself off the tracks to the near center of town would be enough of a shock to the other Deputies. Now more than ever they would need clever thinking to stop all this. Then when Angel saw Manny go running out the doors, wildly shooting two pistols in his hands, waiting time was over. Kit couldn't stop her from making a break, so he covered her, shooting and paralyzing what few were still in the building.

Once the room was quiet enough, Kit looked around, giving himself a quick moment to groan. "Augh, Bodal's gonna turn from frog-green to mornin' sky red." Kit hadn't seen his sister yet, he knew she was on that train though. As much as he knew he would have to go after Angel, he felt he should check the train first to see what they were fighting against. Climbing over the remains of Ebberim's destroyed stage, Kit looked into the front of the train where the engineers would have been. It was empty and looked like the heat from the coals had exploded from inside the furnace. "Where's the mugic?" Kit asked.

It wouldn't be anything small town to have the Hole-in-the-Head Gang gunning for it. "Why would a gang of mostly Mipedian Creatures steal a train of _Underworld_ mugic?" It would be useless to them unless the mugics were generic mugics. "They should be locked up somewhere in the cargo." Kit figured. "If the gang's not using 'em I can only hope its cause they haven't gotten to it yet." Kit decided to leave the commotion to the warriors, he would be more useful to Dust Town from here. And hopefully, he wouldn't have to run into his trigger-happy, hot-headed twin sister.

It wasn't easy for Kit to climb through coal and broken cars. When he finally reached the cargo, Kit thanked his lucky stars that the whole gang seemed to be off the train. He started to feel a bit like a coward, sneaking around in the dark while everyone else was in the fight. "Let's just try an' see what we're dealing with here." He whispered to himself

It was as dark as night inside the cars, and the sound of firing outisde was as clear as could be. However, the lights on the train still had some power to make them flicker on and off. Kit looked when he could for a safe, for a locked compartment, for a mugic left lying on the floor. "What's yer game?" Kit said. "Why steal a train with nothin' good on it…. And then crash it into a small town saloon?"

"Bad driving?" a deep voice suggested.

Kit spun around. Vinta, another Mipedian outlaw of the Hole-in-the-Head Gang, made himself visible to the Deputy. "Like I told Boss, 'Ya never let a _Danian_ drive.'"

Vinta began advancing on the much smaller human. Kit stepped back little by little reaching for his Paralyzing Pistol, not quite ready to draw just yet. He had some questions first.  
"W-What could Mudeenu want with Dust Town?" Kit asked, meeting the lizard's glare. "Even before the war this was neutral turf. There ain't enough here to even make the lowest Overworlder shake in their sandals."

Vinta laughed. "Don't be so serious, boy. Prince Mudeenu's just doin' a favor. The Boss will get what he wants, and then we'll be ridin' outta this Ol' Dust River."

"Wait!" Kit spoke out. "Mudeenu isn't the boss?"

"Whelp, he's _my_ boss. Thing is 'The' Boss wants ta-"

Vinta didn't get the chance to finishes. He was just then hit in the back by a yellow light that froze him in place, mouth open and all. Kit looked behind the Creature to see the little, green Second Deputy coming into the car with them.

"H'earring!" Kit was happy that his friend had come to his rescue, but there was the matter of information Vinta could no longer give up. Kit ran up to meet H'earring. "Thanks, but couldn't you have waited just a second or two?"

H'earring huffed and looked up angrily at Kit. "This ain't no time for interogatin'. We got bigger troubles happenin' right now!"

"I know the Gang is in the town, but-"

"It's not the Gang I'm talking about!" H'earring shouted. "Ghatup, Frafdo, and even Raznus, are shooting Bolt Blasters!"

Kit gasped. "How did they even a hold of those? Angel had every last one banned and melted down!"

"Except for some she stowed away in the Sheriff's office with a key she gave to Raznus." H'earrring pointed out, miserably. "Those things shoot out devastating lightning bolts! It's totally chaotic out there! But they're not aiming at just any of the outlaws, Kit! I heard Frafdo shout over to Ghatup that they only have to hit the _humans_!"

All the noise outside died down to Kit. The blood drained from his face in horror. "My sister…"

"I know Angel and I said both said to put Dust Town first, bu-"

Kit was already gone.

H'earring wasn't understating when he said the town had gone completely chaotic. While the now rogue Deputies shot down lightning from up on the roofs, the citizens, even an enraged Bodal, had joined in the fray using whatever they could get their hands on. The ground was littered with broken shards of glass and wood, and some unfortunates who had been beaten down by the fighting.

Kit couldn't even take a second to freak out over all this. Everything Dust Town had stood for had just crumbled down today. All the peace he and Angel had worked to uphold was gone. The Deputies, people he had trusted, had blatantly disobeyed the orders of the Sheriff. People who were trying to help were falling down and fighting back to protect their homes. The only thing Kit was able to think: _Kat… Angel… I've got to get you out of here!_

So Kit ran, ducked, and shot his Paralyzer at anyone who got in his way. He didn't even bother to yell at the other deputies to stop. He just kept calling out. "Angel! Kat! Manny! Where are you?!" He ran down the street, checked the allies, and kept calling their names. He just hoped that he could find them in time.

 _I know I swore to protect the people of the town. But this friends and family!_ Kit thought that the worst thing today was his sister getting arrested or Angel losing her badge. But _this_. Even if Ghatup, Frafdo and Raznus didn't shoot anyone on their side, their insubordination could get Angel thrown in the State Pen and Kat would be…

He didn't think about it. Kit just kept trying to find them.

"Angel! Kat! Manny!"

All at once, Kit was pulled over the frame of a broken window by his collar. His hat fell in front of his eyes, but he already had his paralyzer ready to fire! "Whoa, amigo!" Though his vision was out, Kit recognized the voice and slang in an instant. He saw Manny crouching down on the floor across from where he was sitting.

"Manny?!"

"The one and only!" Though Kit was glad to see he hadn't been blasted or worse, he still kept his defense weapon aimed at his former- friend's face. "Ooooohhhh-kay! Let's put that away for a second now." Manny started to gently point the weapon away, Kit immediately brought it back.

"Manning Rosen, you are under arrest for petty theft, diner-dashin', and, as of today, train robbery!" Kit spoke tone-serious, like he had practiced this morning.

However, Manny remained unphased. "Guilty on all accounts, but I'd like not to add 'murder of ma friends' to the list." Kit, still suspicious, held his pistol. "Bro, I left to try livin another way an' I like it for the most part. But I draw the line right here! Dude, I love Dust Town and I know how hard Angel's worked to get it this good! I came on this heist to help my little sister, Kat's out lookin' for her right now!"

"I wish I could believe you, Manny. Really." Kit said, "Ya know it'll break Angel's heart to see you behind bars."

Manny lifted his hand up in panic. "I'm dead serious! And if we don't find the girls one of em gonna be plain dead!"

Kit hardened his glare. "Angel's a good shot, you know that. And once I paralyze you here, I'll go get my sister myself!"

Manny got a scared look on his face he said, "No! You need me, Kit! The Boss has a serious grudge against her! He stole the train cause he knew it would lead to this town! You can go see it yourself later- It wasn't even stocked without any useful mugic on it!"

Kit sat there, letting Manny sweat while he tested his words. The train had been empty of even one piece of mugic, but that didn't mean someone from the Hole-in-the-Head Gang hadn't already taken it off with them. Yet what Manny was saying _did_ match what Vinta had been threatening him with. _I'll take the risk this time._ Kit drew back his gun, releasing the trigger to Manny's relief. "Alright." Kit consented. "I can't stop the other Deputies from aiming at ya though. Actually, I don't think I can be seen with you."

"Then let me introduce you to the magic of the back door."

* * *

It was like old times to the two boys. Running from trouble and into new trouble. There was a silent agreement for them not to talk to each other, that way neither the lawmen nor the outlaws would see them sneaking around together. Though, of course, Manny was infamous for breaking the silence. "In case you worried, Bro-"

"Don't call me that." Kit spat. "This is temporary. There is no way I can ever forgive you or Kat for what you've done!"

Manny looked dejected as they stopped at a corner. "Aw Kit… If you really felt that way, why were you looking for all of us when I found ya?"

Kit began to stutter. "I-uh, well… F-Frafdo, and Ghatup are the quickest shots around. But the Sheriff _specifically_ forbids fatal fire arms in the town. It would be bad if the Marshall found out they were aiming at humans with those."

Manny got a smug smirk on his face. "And _why_ , may I ask, are they looking _specifically_ for us?"

"B-Because…" Kit didn't want to admit it. He was happy to see Manny. He sighed with a smile, giving up, "Probably they didn't think Angel and I could get ya, and if we didn't then we couldn't be Sheriff and Deputy ever again." Kit didn't want to admit how he had been silently happy that the four of them would be in the same town again. He and angel secretly wanted them back, and this had been their first chance to reunite in a long time.

Manny reached over with one big arm and pulled Kit into a crushing man-hug. "Aww! I missed you too, little buddy!"

Kit allowed a small laugh between them.

Finally he asked, "So where are we going?"

Manny looked around the corner and around them. The fight had died down a little, but it was unclear which side had won yet. "It's like this…"Manny began to explain. "Being on one side of the law and then switching to the other, opens a lot of doors ya don't normally get to. When I left Dust Town, everyone thought I must have something against the town and the not-so-good-crowd just kind of came around me. Ya know how I always got along best with the Mipedians in town? Well, after Von Bloot was put away, the Gang just kind of splintered off and I got to hanging out with a few.

"So, naturally, when this new boss starts getting them back together with a plot against Dust River, I was invited along. When I heard the plan involved Angel as the target, I was mad enough to take him down right then and there. But I was in the lion's den, man! So I figured I would play the part of rogue-Deputy and get you and Angel out before it was too late!"

Kit slapped his hands over Manny's too loud, too fast talking mouth. "That's all fine!" Kit made a point to talk in as close to a whisper as he could. "But who is this 'Boss' and what does he have against Angel?"

"Hrmphh! Dermphgrmfer!" Manny said with Kit's hand keeping him from talking.

Kit removed his hands and groaned in annoyance, "One more time…"

Manny didn't get the chance. A bolt of lightning struck and charred the ground behind him, making Manny crash right into Kit. The boys looked up. The one who had fired the Bolt Blaster was Deputy Raznus from up on the roof. "I got mah eye trained on him, Kit! You alright?"

"No, I'm not alright!" Kit shouted. Furious, he got to his feet. "Raznus, I'd expected this from the others… but not you. After all Sheriff Angel's done for you, you betray her like this?"

"I'm not betraying her, I'm trying to protect her!" Raznus desperately defended.

"Then where is she?" Kit crossed his arms.

A blast hit Raznus from behind. He cried out as he fell off the building and onto the dirt below. "No!" Kit started to run to where Deputy Raznus had fallen. Manny quickly caught his shoulder.

"Dude! There's gonna be a lot worse if we don't find Angel and Kat!" He turned Kit around, making him look his friend dead in the face. "Think about it: This guy is willing to go through _anybody_ to get the Sheriff here. We just gotta save Angel and hope no more Creatures fall off of roofs, okay?"

At this point, Kit had had enough. "Do you even see what's happening around you anymore?!" He was so angry his face was turning all shades of red. "Dust Town is **done** for! No doubt both the Overworld and Mipedian Tribes will withdraw from the treaty after this, not to mention the Underworld mugic and Danians were involved too! You and Kat being a part of this will ruin any shot Angel had at staying sheriff and-"

A sharp slap and sticking on the side of the First Deputies face shocked him into stopping his sentence. Now it was Manny, the Former-Deputy who spoke with a hushed fury. "Now, I ain't taking none of that no more. I got inta this gang under pressure and I've done things I'm not that proud of, but let me tell ya that _this_ , right here, is why I left. You and Angel have always put your own reputations ahead of everything else! Ahead of your friends and family, and now your own safety."

Kit's eyes were still wide, even as he directed his gaze over to where Raznus had fallen. "This ain't a game neither, Manny." He firmly reminded him. "Without Angel the Treaty of Brotherhood wouldn't even have been considered. Her Dad was loved by the Overland tribes, even during the war, and accordin' to Chief Maxxor she burns with the same fire as him. Chaor said the same about my Pa. Raznus-"

"Might still be alive if he hadn't put you and Angel's rep above his own life." Manny folded his arms. "I get your Dads; shadows stretch far, but what about the shadows that stand beside ya? What about what we've sacrificed for you? Left our homes, our families, turned a blind eye to more unfortunates just cause you can't break away from the rules. I love Angel like she was ma' sister, and if I didn't any less I would have just walked out on these Hole-Heads and not be here to watch _both_ your backs today."

Kit stood staring down at the fallen Danian. Kit realized that the other deputies hadn't gone against orders out of pride, anger or adrenaline rush. It wasn't because of any law or oath they had taken, they took up those arms to defend him and Angel because they were more than the law in Dust Town. The Sheriff and Deputies were friends. That's why Manny was back helping him now, and why Raznus, despite any better reasoning he possessed, had gone along with the other two. H'earring too had shown more than the average loyalty to the humans, even more than he showed to his fellow Creatures.

He wanted to show the Marshalls and Tribal Leaders alike that they had what it takes to bring in every criminal and that towns with co-existing tribes could exist.

A kind of peace his own father said was never meant to last and his sister had called him a fool for trying. They had come so close…

"I… I guess somewhere down the line, Angel and I forgot why we were doing this." He gave Manny an apologetic look. "We wanted a place where everyone could be with their friends. We kept to the law to keep the job, and it just ended up pushing everyone away."

Manny's hand was placed comfortingly on Kit's shoulder. "I get that, bro. You wanted a new paradise. But that kind of order is a dream of the old world. Out here, chaos is a law of nature!"

While his friend's words of wisdom were odd, Kit got the gist. It was about time to let lose if he was going to save what was really important. "So… I don't really care who your new boss is, where is he with Angel?"

* * *

Back on the main street, both human boys were shooting every which way. Kit opted to stunning, but occasionally ducked out of the way so a trigger-happy Manny could shoot two enemies at a time. They ran and blasted all the way back to the Sheriff's office.

"Here?" Kit asked as they hid behind a corner.

Manny said, "I told ya, this is personal to 'em. The Sheriff dying' in battle is one thing, but if she she's found on the floor of her own office, the whole deal with the treaty would be off."

"Maybe you should tell me this guy's name after all." Kit said, checking the gauge in his stun gun. "If I know his past, maybe I can figure out his M.O."

Manny just shrugged, "Meh, Chad's a 'wants-to-see-the-world-burn' kinda guy. Now I'm up for a little fun here and there, but there _is_ a limit to-"

"Chad? Chad! _CHAD!?"_ Kit's freak-out had hit maximum. "Manny, why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"You said it didn't matter!" Manny quickly defended himself.

"Chad 'The Demon' is no ordinary bandit, Manny!" Kit grabbed his collar. "That guy's pure bred evil! He'll turn a town upside-down, take the loot, set on it fire and stand laughin' over the flames. HOW CAN THAT NOT MATTER?"

"I just did what you said!" Manny whimpered.

"Can't you use better judgement? For Pete's sake, you used to be the First Deputy!"

"Well, whose bright idea was it to make fourteen-year-olds law enforcement anyway?"

The argument was cut short by a series of crashes coming from the inside. The two boys ducked into alley between the buildings until they came to a window. There was a stack of crates. "Stay here and scope." Kit ordered Manny. "I'll listen in from the front door. If it things take a turn for the worst, do what you do best, buddy." Kit smiled at the last part. Manny tipped his hat and grinned.

Inside the sheriff's office, the scene was already looking grim. Chad, clad in black from hat to boots, was holding Sheriff Angel in a tight head lock, with his mini-blaster aimed at the other occupant in the room, Kat 'Crazy-eyed' Kalinkas. She also had her own Fire Pistol aimed, though her gloved finger was just touching the trigger.

"You knew what the plan was from the beginnin', Crazy-Eye." Chad stated. Angel's blue eyes darted between the two outlaws as they spoke.

Kat smirked back. "Hm, and you knew there was a reason I'm called Crazy-Eye. No one can tell who I'll aim at next."

Chad tightened his headlock on the Sheriff. "So you're endgame is the Hole-in-the-Head Gang. Puh," he spat. "You can have em'. All I need is to settle the score with the Sheriff here an' I'll walk out nice an quit on the nearest horse."

Kat's crystal in her weapon began to glow with life. "See, that's the thing." Kat said very casually. "Having a whole posse to run around with would be a real blast. Excitement, wealth, fame… who wouldn't love it? But what if I want to retire one day? Who's good enough to send me out in a blaze of glory? Where will a get a proper burial where everyone can see and hear my story after I'm gone?"

Both Chad and the Sheriff both shared a look. "… _What_?"

Kat continued. "Chad, you're want this to play out so that the Tribes and our people stay at war. You profit from that, and this sweet little Sheriff is in the way of your perfect chaotic world. Every other day, I'd go right along with it. But just being the follower? That ain't in my blood. And let's just say, my blood runs thicker _and_ hotter than a runaway train. "

Angel finally spoke up. "Kat! Do have any idea what this has done to Kit? Do you really think he wants to see his own sister dead or in jail?!"

Kat just shrugged. "Don't know. Angel, you know I have a code of my own."

"And this has nothing to do with it." Chad redirected his weapon at Kat who remained unaffected. "Alright, Kat, I can make a deal. You let me and the Peace-keeper walk outta here and the gang is yours. I'll leave her body out where it's no trouble to find it." Angel didn't struggle as he talked.

Kat's stance became straighter, and her brown eyes took a serious slant. But then she lowered her weapon. "Just one last condition, Boss." She cast a casual glance at Sheriff Angel. Angel looked out the window to see Manny peeking in. "You gotta escape here, alive."

Kat ducked and rolled behind a desk just as the door to the Sheriff's office was blasted away. First Deputy Kit stood there with his furious eyes staring directly at Chad. Sherriff Angel took advantage of her captor's shock by elbowing him hard in the gut. He staggered back, releasing her. That was when Manny jumped in from the window and tossed a Stun Gun over to the Sheriff which she caught. In a less than a second, Chad found himself surrounded by two current and two former lawmen of Dust River.

"Chad 'The Demon'… Whatever your last name is! You are under arrest!" Angel declared.

Chad looked around. Everyone was well-armed against him. In all his planning: the Gang to distract the goody-goody deputies, two traitors to the law to draw out the Sheriif, and crashin' a worthless train to throw off the rest of the town; not once did he see his own pawns turning against him. He dropped his blaster and held his hands up in the air.

Angel pulled out a rope to tie Chad's hands with and keep him in the cells they had. She hesitated, and then threw the rope to Manny. He caught it, looking confused. "Deputy Manny," Angel said with a smile. "Tie him with his wrist behind him and lock him in the first cell."

Manny did just that. "What?" Chad smirked as he was led away. "No good-bye kiss, Angel?"

Angel made a sound of disgust.

"That boy is madder than a herd a' cats." Kat shook her head.

Angel suddenly turned her Paralyzer Pistol on the red-head. Kat gasped in shock, as did her brother.

"Angel!" Kit took a step towards the Sheriff to reason with her.

Angel spoke directly to Kat. "Manny I can accept was here to help. But you, Kat, even with what you've done I can't risk you walking out of here."

"How can you say that?" Kit demanded. "Kat just saved your life, Angel! How can you welcome back Manny but not her?"

"Your sister was never a deputy, Kit." Angel said. "You were the one who told me she never had much of a moral conscience. How do I know she just won't walk out of here with the Hole-in-the Head Gang and be back for another heist?"

Determined, Kit went and stood between his sister and Angel. With conviction he said, "Because I'm tired of losing the people I love the same way."

Manny stood off to the side and listened as Kit went on to the wide-eyed Sheriff. "I lost Kat because I always put the law ahead of her. Even when she stole so we wouldn't be hungry on the street, I always blamed her for us being thought of as bad people. Angel, maybe we're as responsible for this day as they are. Manny was always an odd stick and you always got after him because he did things differently than we were trained to. But it was that same going against the grain that saved us!"

Angel, sighed looking at Kit sympathetically, though she did not lower her Paralyzer. "Kit… we can't let something like this slide. I'm grateful to Kat and Manny and I'll speak for them at each of their trials if it comes down to that. But order can't exist with chaos."

"Order can't exist without it." Kit argued back. "Angel, I didn't before, but now I think I see what Manny's been talking about. We used to have fun, causing trouble and helping our friends! I know the games are over for us, but haven't you felt something's been off? It's not the Marshall constantly watching over us, and it's not the Creature on the brink of war. It's us! The law isn't all black and white, not all the time."

Angel looked as if she was remembering something. She blinked, her eyes lowered and looked around. "I… But Mom… and Dad…"

From behind her, a familiar large hand came up and was placed on her shoulder. "Mrs Majors woulda' respected the rule of the law…. Maybe. And yer Pa would be tellin' ya sometimes yer friends have ta remind ya of that."

Angel looked at her three friends in the room. All four of them had once been rabble-rousers in the past, but somehow they had become divided on different side of the law. They used to _all_ get in trouble, then go back out and do it again! Whatever became the deciding point, wherever the line was drawn… if things went even a little differently, would Manny or Kat be the one pointing the badge and Paralyzer at her? All Angel had to do was look at her friends' eyes to know that none of them would. A bit of shame she had been holding back finally came forward.

The Paralyzer dropped to the floor.

Angel finally went and hugged Manny, welcoming him back home. "Missed ya, partner." She said.

"Missed ya, too."

Kit lowered his arms and relaxed. After all this it looked like today had gone in the complete opposite of what he thought. As his sister came up and stood beside him, he said, "I guess even a Chaotic day can have a happy ending."

"It can." Kat replied. Then she grabbed Kit by the arm and threw him across the room at the other two making them fall over.

"Ha, ha!" the red-headed girl laughed, "You guys are so gullible!" Kat then let out a loud whistle and the wall to the Sheriff's office was blown so there was a giant gapping hole in it!

All on different land transports were Ulmar, Rarran, Ultadur, Pyrithion along with Siado, Kolmo, Marquis Darini and Mudeenu himself. All of them waiting outside the destroyed wall for Kat. Recovering from the forced pile-on, Kit looked up at his sister, "Why?"

Kat got a smug look on her face. "Cause that's the way of the west, little brother. These boys needed a leader and I knew Chad wasn't gonna make the cut from the beginning. Boy was too narrow of the mind to begin with. Besides," Kat walked over and crouched down to her brother's level to whisper. "I know you got a thing for the Sheriff. I ain't getting ma brother back no matter how this turns out." She said so sinisterly that the words almost sounded like a threat.

If only they didn't hold a ring of surrender to them.

Standing back up, Kat spoke to the rest of the company. "The Hole-in-the-Head Gang is now under the great leadership of Crazy-Eyed Kat! All tribes and all humans welcome who don't see any good commin from the law and want their freedom from it!"

She dashed all the way over to her own hover bike. "Oh, and Angel!" Kat called over. "Ma boys already tied up the rest of deadweights up in the saloon. I don't need no weak-links runnin' with me. But hey! You guys ever get tired of this dusty piece a dirt, I think I can train ya up to ride with us!" Hopping on her ride with hollering laughter, Kat took off with the rest of her new gang behind her.

Manny, Angel and Kit finally untangled themselves and tried to run after her. They ran until they reached the end of the town line, but Kat was well-on her way to the horizon. Panting, the three friends looked on as the Hole-in-the-Head Gang escaped.

"So," Manny, still catching his breath tried to clarify, "does this mean we lost?"

Mind still racing, Kit said, "Half the town's in shambles, at least one deputy's been badly hurt, and the strongest members of a notorious posse just got away. Angel…?" Kit wasn't sure what to say to her. As the Sheriff all of this would fall on her shoulders.

She walked up to stand beside Kit. Instead of the worry and anxiety he had expected to see reflected back at him, Angel stood there looking off in the distance with confidence and relief. "We also saved half the town, more so thanks to the deputies taking those Blasters. Not to mention the citizens all worked together today to defend themselves and their homes. We got most members of the gang to show Marshall Crellan when he gets here, and…" She took Kit's hand in her own. "All the people I care about got through today alive. I'll count that as a win."

Kit could feel himself blush. "Yeah, but Kat..." She had gotten away.

"Was just one of the few who got away in the confusion? Yeah, and I can tell the Marshall that Manny was on a undercover mission for us this entire time." Angel smiled over at Manny. "Given my family's past with Marshall Crellan, I think I can get him to believe me."

A wide grin spread over the former-sort-of-outlaw's face as he walked over to them. Holding them both in a tight hug, Manny declared, "Now that's the Angel Majors I know and love! Good to have ya both back!"

As they laughed in joy of their reunion, a small-sized, big-eared deputy came running in. "Sheriff Angel! Everybody! She's okay! Deputy Kit's with her and so is Deputy Manny!" Behind H'earring came the entire town, including the deputies with a limping Raznus with them. They all cheered joyfully at the outlaws being finally run off by the heroes of their town. Even Manny was immediately accepted back.

Amid all the cheers and congratulations, one voice called out to everyone, "QUIET!" Bodal, pushing his way through the crowd with his broom in hand up to the Sheriff. "I received a very important message from the Marshall. He will be here by tomorrow and wants to get a full report from whoever is in charge on what happened."

"What will you tell him Angel?" Kit asked. No doubt that a serious blow would be dealt to Angel's reputation. And if she told about the Deputies taking the Bolt Blasters, there was chance they would be put on trial, not to mention Manny and himself working together and failing to capture the entire gang. The fact that his sister got away would definitely be brought up.

"Well?" Manny asked.

Angel took the message from Bodal's hand and turned to Kit. "I'll tell him the truth." She beamed, "That you saved the day, Kit. You're Dust River's hero."

Kit was lifted up by the people of Dust River, praising him as their local hero. Some even suggested that he might make a good-co-sheriff alongside Angel. Others asked how he had done it, and what exactly he had done today. But before Kit could answer, a light _thump_ hit his square in the face.

* * *

Kit jolted awake on the couch in his house to see the credits on the living room T.V. rolling with two cowboys riding over the plains. His attacker, and waker from his dream was none other than his own twin sister. The pillow was still in her hand.

"You choose the movie and then sleep through it?" Kat scoffed. "Jeez, Kit, if I had known you were asleep I would have changed it to my pick. Though... it was pretty good, you missed out."

Sitting up, Kit rubbed his face then adjusted his glasses. "Humans in a land undefined by law while balancing right and wrong, risking reputation and loved-ones? Yeah, how _irrelevant_ to us, Kat."

He was being sarcastic about something, she didn't know what. "Did I hit you too hard with this? If you want I can rewind."

Looking up at the screen, Kit shrugged. "Nah, I don't think I really missed anything." Kit was only partly sad that this had been a dream, but he was happy that his sister was sitting here with him and they could see Angel and Manny tomorrow in Chaotic. Did he want to tell them about what he dreamed? He decided to put that thought away for later. "It's only eight at night, what did you want to watch?"

Excitedly, Kat grabbed the remote. "This!" he clicked to the channel playing ' _Invaders With Tentacles.'_ "An alien movie?" Kit asked, surprised. "Kat I never picked you for a sci-fi fan but-"

He was cut off by the sound of her snoring. Kit looked between the television and his sister. He thought of just turning it off. Then he kicked his feet up onto the coffee table and reclined back into the couch. "You'll have to ride this one out without me, partner. Happy trails to ya."

* * *

 **A/N: A tribute to one of my favorite episodes. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree as people say!**

 **Many of you might have guessed how this was going. And thank you to those who reviewed!**


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